Storm Debi causes disruption on parts of Scotland’s railways

Rail passengers are facing disruption as Storm Debi sweeps in, with speed restrictions being put in place and some services halted due to flooding.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rain for Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen, Angus and Moray which is in place from 10am until 9pm on Monday.

Network Rail Scotland said speed limits will have to be put in place as a result of the weather.

Trains are unable to run on the line between Dumfries and Sanquhar as a result of heavy flooding.

A restriction is already in place as a result of the weather on the West Highland line between Garelochhead and Crianlarich.

Parts of north-east Scotland likely to see heavy rain were also battered by Storm Babet last month, including Brechin in Angus, where hundreds of homes had to be evacuated after the river South Esk breached its banks.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Network Rail said: “Storm Debi isn’t expected to impact our network as much as recent storms but the high winds & heavy rain do mean that we need to limit train speeds on a few sections of track from 17:00 today until 08:00 tomorrow on several sections of track between Montrose & Portlethen and also between Huntly and Insch.

“Additionally, a speed restriction is already in place on the West Highland Line until 08:30 tomorrow between Garelochhead and Crianlarich.”

Jonathan Vautrey, a meteorologist for the Met Office, urged people to “take care before you travel”.

He said: “There will be some heavy rainfall, the potential for flying debris, the potential for disruption to travel and infrastructure in places.”