Scotland clears up storm damage but many homes still without power

Fiercest weather in a decade, with winds of up to 165mph, disrupts homes, travel, schools and businesses

 

Children sprayed by rough waves at Cardswell Bay, Gourock, on Thursday. Photograph: Graham Stuart/AFP/Getty Images

The clear-up of devastation caused by hurricane-strength winds and violent storms in Scotland has begun in earnest, with the Scottish government warning that some people may be without electricity until the weekend.
Engineers were urgently trying on Friday to reconnect more than 70,000 homes which were without power, some travel services were still disrupted and councils were clearing debris from roads after the fiercest storms in a decade hit the country.
Most schools, businesses and council offices that had been forced to close early on Thursday afternoon reopened. Winds – which reached 165mph on Thursday – eased, with the worst weather confined to north-east Scotland and the Shetlands.
Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were open but warned of severe delays and cancellations, while Scotrail services were still delayed across Scotland with cancellations expected on routes from Inverness to Aberdeen, Gourock to Glasgow Central, and Oban and Fort William to Glasgow Queen Street.
Roads were beginning to be cleared, with police saying conditions had improved across the Western Isles and the Highlands. However, many roads were still blocked by fallen trees and surface water.
Overnight, severe winds washed away part of a causeway road on the Orkney island of Hoy; the road surface of the Ayre, which links the communities of Hoy and South Walls, broke up after 10pm on Thursday and the road remained impassable on Friday.
The strong winds forced the closure of every major bridge in Scotland including the Forth road bridge between Edinburgh and Fife, the Erskine bridge connecting Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire, the Skye bridge and the Tay road bridge.
Orkney suffered widespread flooding and damage; all schools in Orkney, Caithness and on the north coast of Sutherland remained shut.
Fourteen schools closed in Aberdeenshire and some schools in Angus, Argyll and Bute, Shetland, Stirling and the Western Isles were also without power.
Aberdeen was still suffering with problems affecting telephone networks and internet connections. Several families had to be evacuated from a tenement in the Kincorth area after the gable end of a house collapsed on to a car, but no one was injured.
Scottish Power said it had reconnected 95% of its customers, while Scottish Hydro said about 50,000 customers were without power on Thursday night and it expected the number to increase before things got better.
Guy Jefferson, operations director of Scottish Power, said about 2,000 of its customers had no power on Friday morning. Ayrshire and Fife were the worst affected, with about 500 homes in each area still cut off. He said the company was engaged in a "gigantic effort" to restore power, and had 600 staff out from dawn aiming to reconnect customers by the end of the day. "In some places the wind was so strong they could not open the doors of their vans. The wind pinned their doors closed. The difficulties were huge," he told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme. "With these conditions – about once in 15 years – there was bound to be some disruption but we are hopeful of getting everybody back online today, and it would be a huge achievement if we manage to do that."
Meanwhile, the Scottish SPCA animal welfare charity reported that a number of seal pups had been injured in the storms, with many washed away from their birthing grounds. Wildlife rescue centre manager Colin Seddon said: "Several of the pups we've rescued have been washed off their birthing grounds by stormy weather and have arrived with various injuries as a result of being bashed against rocks. Numerous others have been found in distress on our shores, often underweight, dehydrated and weak."
Scotland's deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who has been chairing the Scottish government's resilience committee, told the BBC: "While the worst of the weather has subsided across the central belt, other areas of the country are still experiencing severe conditions. Contractors are working hard to resolve remaining issues on our roads and with power supplies. I would urge all members of the public to continue to take care and heed advice from police and travel authorities."

Hollywood flubs movie system launch, miffs users

By RYAN NAKASHIMA

LOS ANGELES
Warner Bros. is learning a hard lesson about launching an ill-conceived product in the age of social media.
When the studio introduced its first movies on the new "UltraViolet" format in October, consumers were led to believe they could buy a DVD or Blu-ray, register their ownership of the movie on the UltraViolet website and then receive-- at no extra cost -- a digital version that could play on their computer, tablet or mobile phone.
The studio's aim was to encourage people to purchase movies rather than rent them or subscribe to a streaming service. But UltraViolet didn't work as advertised.
Some users were confused because the process required them to register on the UltraViolet website as well as on another website called Flixster, a movie site owned by Warner Bros. Users had to install special software before they could view movies on their computers. To make matters worse, it didn't work as advertised for owners of Apple's iPhones and iPads.
Within days, befuddled consumers took to Twitter and the Internet to complain. Jarren Wood, an art student from Atlanta, tweeted that he felt "conned" and called UltraViolet "a horrible hoax." Blogger Bryan Darrow tweeted, "Flixster sucks. I want my digital copy."
Among thousands of posts about UltraViolet on social-media sites in the weeks following the Oct. 11 launch, only 3 percent of comments were positive, according to Fizziology, a company that tracks buzz related to Hollywood movie releases. Some 17 percent were negative and the rest were neutral. That's on par with the worst product receptions the firm has ever seen.
The message from Warner Bros. "seems to be as complicated as the sign-up process. Both would benefit from simplification," says Beth Monaghan, co-founder of public relations firm InkHouse. "If we've learned anything from Apple, it's that a simple message wins almost every time."
Warner's UltraViolet fiasco showcases the stark differences between Hollywood and Silicon Valley when it comes to innovation. To lure consumers, technology companies strive to make their products and services easy to use. Hollywood tends to sacrifice user convenience to maintain existing cash cows.
One recent dud was an attempt to sell cards for $15 at Wal-Mart that gave consumers permanent access to the Sony Pictures movie "Battle: Los Angeles" at Wal-Mart's Vudu streaming site. With movies available for rental at $4 and up, few jumped at the offer. Another misfire: For most of a decade, the studios couldn't agree on a high-definition format before they finally settled on Blu-ray a few years ago.
As more people flock to digital movie streaming, online rentals and subscription services, Hollywood is trying to persuade consumers to buy and collect movies. The push comes as U.S. sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs have fallen by a third -- from $10.3 billion to roughly $7 billion -- in the past seven years. At the same time, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and others have lured customers by offering cheaper alternatives to movie ownership.
UltraViolet, the industry's latest scheme to promote movie ownership, attempts to make DVDs and Blu-rays more attractive by offering consumers the option of receiving a digital copy of a movie they buy on disc. Those digital versions, of course, are more versatile than discs, and -- in theory at least -- can be placed on mobile phones and tablet devices.
But it took two weeks for Heath Parks, a 43-year-old technology buff in Cincinnati, to get UltraViolet to work, even after exchanging emails with Flixster CEO Joe Greenstein.
Parks says it would have been easier to use unlicensed software to copy "Green Lantern" from the discs himself.
"I could have ripped it. I could have done any of this stuff. The point is I didn't want to do that," he says in an interview. "My personal feeling is they rushed the service out. I don't think it's ready."
Warner Bros. declined comment to the AP.
Greenstein, the Flixster CEO, later sent Parks an email, saying he was "incredibly sorry for the awful initial experience" and gave Parks free copies of two other movies.
UltraViolet is backed by Warner Bros. and four other major studios. It was supposed to allow a consumer to buy a movie once and almost magically have it be available on their TV, smartphone, tablet computer or any other device. This would all happen simply because the consumer's ownership of the movie had been recorded online. Consumers would be able to share viewing privileges with family members in other locations, without having to buy a new copy.
But when Warner Bros. released home movies including "Horrible Bosses" and "Green Lantern," UltraViolet didn't work that way.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., hadn't completed deals with retailers such as Wal-Mart or with pay TV distributors including Comcast Corp. Such deals would have given consumers more places to access digital copies and streamed versions of their movies. Instead, users who wanted to watch movies had to go to Flixster.
Warner Bros. also didn't have the backing of two heavyweights in the business, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., whose own systems for delivering digital movies aren't compatible with UltraViolet, so the process wasn't as seamless as intended.
The key issue is that the companies that would have to provide movie access, such as cable TV company Comcast, would bear the cost of online streaming in the way of increased traffic on its network, but wouldn't collect money on the sale.
Some Hollywood executives are proposing that movie studios share about 3 percent of UltraViolet movie revenue to entice retail partners to participate.
Most studios appear committed to proceeding with UltraViolet. Sony launched its first UltraViolet-ready movies, "The Smurfs" and "Friends with Benefits," last week. Universal released its first movie, "Cowboys & Aliens," on UltraViolet on Tuesday. Both studios also offered streaming from websites they own along with access through Flixster. Viacom Inc.'s Paramount hasn't yet committed to a date. (The Walt Disney Co. is pushing its own system of online ownership.)
Warner Bros. made downloads available for Apple and Android devices a month after launch, but the movies still require viewing within the Flixster app.
Comcast is expected to allow UltraViolet viewing through its Xfinity online service in the near future. Viewing through Comcast set-top boxes is not expected until 2013.
"We're going to continue to learn over time," says Mitch Singer, president of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, the movie industry and consumer electronics company consortium that created UltraViolet. "The experience will get better and better."
Launching the system before the important winter holiday sales period was "the right thing to do," says InkHouse's Monaghan. But the studio should have let consumers know that improvements are on the way, she says.
Michael Solomon, a professor of marketing at Saint Joseph's University, says Warner Bros. might have avoided the backlash if it dubbed its launch a "beta." Then consumers would expect glitches while the company irons out the kinks.
"If they come out with the next version ... they'll have to work that much more to convince these people who have been burned once."

Apple vs Samsung: First round to Samsung

Reuters | Dec 9, 2011, 10.15AM IST

Samsung Electronics Co won a round of its bruising global patent fight with Apple Inc.

SYDNEY/SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co won a round of its bruising global patent fight with Apple Inc when an Australian court lifted a ban on the sale of its Galaxy tablet computer in time for the busy Christmas shopping season.

But the South Korean firm's triumph in a Sydney courtroom was tempered by a setback the previous day in Paris, where another court rejected its bid to block sales of Apple's iPhone 4S in France.

Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in some 30 legal cases in 10 countries since April, as they jostle for the top spot in the booming smartphone and tablet markets.

The Australian High Court ruling allows Samsung to offer the device to Australian shoppers for the final weeks of the key Christmas shopping season and came a week after a US court denied Apple's plea to ban Galaxy phones and tablets in the country.

Apple on Thursday appealed against the US decision, which deprived the iPhone and iPad maker of crucial leverage.

In France, Samsung's bid to impose a preliminary sales ban on the iPhone 4S was rejected. Calling the request out of proportion, the court also ordered Samsung to pay 100,000 euros ($133,900) of Apple's legal fees, according to the decision.

Samsung said on Friday it would review the written grounds for the French ruling and continue to exercise all available options to assert its intellectual property rights.

Apple first sued Samsung in the United States in April, saying the firm's smartphones and tablets slavishly copied its iPhone and iPad.

Samsung shot back, suing Apple for infringing on its telecommunications technology, and later expanded its suit to include Apple's iPhone 4S, released in October.

The South Korean firm filed preliminary injunction motions against the iPhone 4S in Japan, France, Italy and Australia in October.

In Australia, sales of iPhone 4S are allowed to continue after a court agreed to hear a patent infringement case brought by Samsung in March.

"If the Italian bid (by Samsung) also fails, the time may come for both Apple and Samsung to realise that you can't win a marathon with a sprint," said intellectual property expert Florian Mueller.

"The problem with those 'sprints' -- in terms of requests for preliminary injunctions that courts can grant after a fast-track proceeding -- is that when they fail, they do nothing to enhance the credibility of the respective plaintiff."

Sales resume after nearly 5-months absence

Samsung's Galaxy tablet 10.1, which is considered one of the main alternatives to Apple's iPad, has been kept out of the Australian market since late July.

The Australian market, while not huge, is the first launch market for Apple products outside the United States.

In late November, Samsung won a rare legal victory after an Australian Federal Court unanimously decided to lift a preliminary injunction, imposed by a lower court, on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple had appealed against the decision in the High Court, which is the final court of appeal. Apple could not be reached for comment immediately.

Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker, but a distant second to Apple in tablets.

The quarrel has triggered expectations that some of the pair's $5 billion-plus relationship may be up for grabs. Samsung counts Apple as its biggest customer and makes parts central to Apple's mobile devices.

Global tablet sales are expected to explode to more than 50 million in 2011. Apple, which has sold more than 30 million iPads so far, is expected to continue to dominate the market in the near term.

Now Amazon.com has also entered the fray with its Kindle Fire tablet, but Samsung's Galaxy line-up is widely deemed the closest rival in terms of capability and design to the iPad.

Shares in Samsung fell 0.4 per cent by 0355 GMT versus a 1.8 per cent drop in the wider market.

Breast cancer screening does more harm than good, study claims

Women may undergo unnecessary surgery or receive false positive results, research shows

Women may suffer negative consequences as a result of breast cancer screening, new research claims. Photograph: Burger/Phanie / Rex Features

The controversy over the value of breast cancer screening has been reopened by a study which claims that it does women more harm than good.
Women may suffer negative consequences as a result of the screening programme such as unnecessary surgery to remove harmless cancers that posed them no risk, according to research published in the British Medical Journal.
The findings also highlight the possibility of women receiving "false positives", or results which are initially classed as abnormal but later turn out to be unproblematic. The findings are the latest evidence to emerge which challenges the usefulness of breast cancer screening and warns that it can damage women.
Criticism of the screening programme has prompted the Department of Health (DH) to ask Professor Sir Mike Richards, the government's cancer tsar, to commission a review of the evidence alongside Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, from an independent panel of experts who have not previously researched breast screening. That is intended to find consensus because "we know that some scientists differ in their views towards screening", a health department spokesman said.
The study, led by James Raftery, professor of health technology assessment at Southampton University, analysed data from the 1986 Forrest report, which led to screening being introduced in the UK. The Forrest report said the value of screening could be measured by looking at quality adjusted life years (QALYs), which measure both the quality and quantity of extra life gained. Screening would cut the number of women dying of breast cancer by a third, it suggested, and there would be no harmful impact.
Forrest said there would be about 3,000 QALYs over 20 years for every 100,000 women who were invited to be screened. But Raftery and colleagues' analysis of 100,000 women aged 50 or over disputes the Forrest conclusions. This latest paper claims once harmful effects are included, the QALY benefits are fewer: only 1,500 QALYs after 20 years – half Forrest's estimates.
"At up to eight years the harms generally outweigh the benefits but at 20 years there are greater positive benefits. Nevertheless, either way the benefit to patients is less than was stated in Forrest", said Raftery. Most women who have surgery to remove a suspected cancer do not need the treatment, he added.
"There are lots of women around who have had surgery who believe their lives were saved when in fact only around one in 10 have had their life saved", he said.
The health department said the study had not altered its belief in screening. "Our advice has not changed – we urge all women to go for breast screening when invited. The best available evidence shows that screening saves lives by detecting cancers earlier than they would otherwise have been."Our screening programme has always been regularly scrutinised and evaluated", said a spokesman. Women between 50 and 70 are currently invited for screening but that is being extended to those aged 47 up to 73.
Cancer charities are also continuing to defend screening. "We believe breast screening is vital as it can detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stages when no other symptoms are obvious", said Dr Caitlin Palframan, the policy manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The new study "is just one of many analyses of existing screening data", she said.
Catherine Priestly, a clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Care, said calls to its helpline show that "the differing opinions on screening are causing confusion and anxiety for many people". She hoped the review "will bring clarity to this issue and for those attending screening", she added.

Abortion 'does not raise' mental health risk

Women who have unwanted pregnancies have three times the risk of mental health problems.

Abortion does not raise the risk of a woman suffering mental health problems, a major review by experts concludes.

Data from 44 studies showed women with an unwanted pregnancy have a higher incidence of mental health problems in general.
This is not affected by whether or not they have an abortion or give birth.
But anti-abortion campaigners said the review sought to "minimise" the psychological effect of terminating a pregnancy.
Experts from the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) used the same research methods they use to assess evidence on other mental health issues for NICE.
The work - funded by the Department of Health - came after concerns that abortion may adversely affect a woman's mental health.
Usually, a woman's risk of suffering common disorders such as anxiety or depression would be around 11-12%.
But the researchers said this rate was around three times higher in women with unwanted pregnancies.
'Equal risks' The director of NCCMH, Prof Tim Kendall, said: "It could be that these women have a mental health problem before the pregnancy.

Prof Tim Kendall: "For women who are considering an abortion, mental health is probably not an important consideration"

"On the other hand, it could be the unwanted pregnancy that's causing the problem.
"Or both explanations could be true. We can't be absolutely sure from the studies whether that's the case - but common sense would say it's quite likely to be both.
"The evidence shows though that whether these women have abortions - or go on to give birth - their risk of having mental health problems will not increase.
"They carry roughly equal risks.
"We believe this is the most comprehensive and detailed review of the mental health outcomes of abortion to date worldwide."
Prof Kendall said many previous studies had failed to adequately control for instances when women previously had mental health problems.
After a project which involved a three-month consultation, the researchers believe it would not "be fruitful" to carry out further studies into how pregnancies are resolved.
They say future work should concentrate on the mental health needs associated with an unwanted pregnancy.
Support need Dr Roch Cantwell, a consultant perinatal psychiatrist who chaired the steering group, said the review was called for in 2008.
He said: "At that time, the Royal College of Psychiatrists issued a position statement saying the evidence on abortion and mental health was imperfect and conflicting.
"We all recognise abortion is a very sensitive and emotive topic. Our aim was not to debate the moral and ethical issues, but to focus on the available scientific evidence."
The scope of the review excluded reactions such as guilt, shame and regret - although these were considered important - and also assessments of mental state within 90 days of an abortion.
This was because the research was not about "transient reactions to a stressful event".
Sophie Corlett, director of external relations at the mental health charity Mind, said: "It is important that medical professionals are given the correct information to provide support for all women, but particularly those with a pre-existing history of mental health problems.
"This study makes it absolutely clear that this group is at the greatest risk of developing post-pregnancy mental health problems and should be given extra support in light of this."
Dr Kate Guthrie, speaking for RCOG, said: "Abortion, including aftercare, is an essential part of women's healthcare services, alongside access to contraception and family planning information."
And, in a statement the sexual health charities FPA and Brook said: "This review of evidence will reassure women who have had or are thinking about having an abortion that it's a safe procedure with no direct impact on their mental health."
'False belief' However, a spokeswoman for the ProLife Alliance said: "Once again the politics of abortion blinds those who should be rigorously objective in assessing epidemiological evidence.
"This is a pick-and-mix report trying to minimise the psychological effects of termination of pregnancy in a way which does our so-called medical experts little credit."
And Dr Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: "This new review shows that abortion does not improve mental health outcomes for women with unplanned pregnancies, despite 98% of the 200,000 abortions being carried out in this country each year on mental health grounds.
"This means that when doctors authorise abortions in order to protect a woman's mental health they are doing so on the basis of a false belief not supported by the medical evidence.
"In other words the vast majority of abortions in this country are technically illegal."
Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: "We are pleased to see the conclusions of this important review.
"The findings will be one of the many sources of information that we will use to inform our sexual health document that will be published next year.
"What is clear is that having an unwanted pregnancy has implications for people's mental health and wellbeing."

Motorola wins Apple wireless patent fight in Germany

A German court has ruled in Motorola Mobility's favour in a patents dispute with Apple.

The Android smartphone maker had complained that Apple failed to license one of its wireless intellectual properties.
Apple uses the technology in its iPhones and 3G iPads.
Although this may not be the final ruling in the case, Motorola could now demand Apple remove the feature from its devices or halt sales in Germany.
Motorola said the ruling validated its "efforts to enforce its patents against Apple's infringement".
Apple has not commented on the news, but company watchers said it was likely to appeal and ask that any injunction be delayed pending the verdict.
The case is set to result in a legal clash between Android's maker, Google, and Apple since Motorola's shareholders have approved the search giant's takeover of their company.
Fighting times The case relates to Motorola's patent for a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".
Motorola licenses this patent to others on Frand (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.
The owner of a Frand-type patent is obligated to license out its technology to third-parties because the invention has been declared to be essential to an industry standard.
Apple had offered to pay a Frand-set fee going forward and was willing to pay a similar rate for past infringements. But it lost the case because it tried to retain the right to contest the validity of the patent with a view to past damages.
It tried to do this because Motorola had defended its right to charge an above-Frand rate for Apple's use of its technology over the past four years. This could have been many times higher than the rate Apple was willing to pay and potentially very expensive.
Motorola will have to post a 100m euro (£85m; $133m) bond if it wishes to enforce a sales injunction against Apple. The cash would cover compensation to Apple if the ruling was later overturned.
Motorola welcomed the ruling.
"We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our intellectual property, as the company's patent portfolio and licensing agreements with companies both in the US and around the world are critical to our business," said Scott Offer, senior vice-president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility.
"We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them a reasonable royalty rate since 2007, and hope to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable."
Apple could not be reached for comment.
Appeal details Patent watchers says this will not be the end of the affair.
"This is really a given between such large players in high stakes disputes," said Florian Mueller, a patent consultant who revealed the court's verdict on his blog.
"In Germany you get a first ruling by a regional court rather quickly - this litigation started in April this year. Usually between companies of this stature the disputes go to the higher regional court and that could take a couple of years," Mr Mueller told the BBC.
Mr Mueller advises Microsoft and others and has campaigned for patent reform in Europe.
He said Apple could try to revise its products, but noted that Frand-type patents were, by their nature, hard to work around. He added that doing so could run the risk of causing communication problems with the mobile networks' equipment.
Samsung tablet ban Although Apple is on the receiving end of this lawsuit it has also been very active in the courts suing HTC, Samsung and Motorola among others for claimed patent infringements.
It temporarily managed to have Samsung's tablets banned from sale in Australia, although the restriction was overturned earlier today.
The US International Trade Commission is expected to rule on its dispute with Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on 14 December. The judgement could lead to shipments of HTC's products being blocked in the US.
Although the targets of Apple's lawsuits are often firms which use Google's Android software, the two firms have avoided suing each other. That is set to change when Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility is completed early next year.
"Google with its pending acquisition will be watching this case with great interest as any victory is an endorsement of Motorola's patent portfolio that it is seeking to acquire," said Ben Cross, director of research at the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.

60,000 left powerless as gales wreak havoc

A wind turbine in Ardrossan catches fire during the height of the storms

By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on Friday 9 December 2011 12:11

IT WAS the day Scotland battened down the hatches against the first “red alert” weather warning in Met Office history for hurricane-force winds, which hit 165mph, bringing thunder, lighting, driving rain and power cuts for at least 60,000 people.
As the skies darkened, three-quarters of the nation’s schools were forced to close, all major road bridges were shut and drivers across central Scotland were told by police to avoid travel. But the roads still witnessed a spate of toppled lorries and an empty school bus, while winds blew over a wind turbine and, incredibly, appeared to set another ablaze.
After 80 flights from Edinburgh airport were cancelled, the terminal was left with some 60 stranded passengers and the Red Cross was called in to deliver overnight care packages.
But despite wave-whipped rivers threatening to burst their banks, Christmas decorations torn down in Aberdeen city centre and chunks of masonry toppling in Bellshill, the destruction first feared failed to come to pass.
Instead, many people followed the lead of Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the newly arrived giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, and retreated indoors.
In the face of what was feared could be a catastrophic storm, one tweeter dubbed it “Hurricane Bawbag”, which led to the curious phenomenon of the Scots colloquialism for a testicular sac trending at number one worldwide. Within hours, a wily entrepreneur was selling a range of T-shirts bearing the slogan “Hurricane Bawbag: A Load of Old Wind”.
The wind, which peaked at 165mph at the top of Cairn Gorm, was, indeed, relatively old, having started as a low pressure system off the coast of Newfoundland last week.
Caught by the transatlantic weather systems and swept east towards Britain, it was tagged as a yellow warning by the Exeter-based Met Office on Monday and upgraded to amber on Tuesday. By 10am on Wednesday, meteorologists, concerned that its tightening eye was leading to rapidly speeding winds, decided to issue the first ever red warning for high winds.
On Wednesday evening, the Scottish Government’s resilience committee met, with ministers and council representatives briefed by police and the Met Office’s chief forecaster, who explained that winds gusting up to 90mph were due to hit western areas of Scotland, the Central Belt and large parts of the south from 7am yesterday.
At 11:55pm on Wednesday, the Scottish Government contacted directors of education by e-mail to say schools in the west should not open and those in the east should close at lunchtime.
In the west of Scotland, people awoke yesterday to bruised black skies and driving rain. In Helensburgh, the wind whipped the waves over the front, and while some older pedestrians clung to lampposts for stability, teenagers held their jackets overhead and leaned into the wind. In Glasgow, the Clyde appeared exceedingly swollen.
At 11:13am, Lothian and Borders Police issued a statement saying all members of the public should avoid travel by road. Within an hour, the Dumfries and Galloway, Strathclyde and Central forces had issued similar advice, while those in Fife, Northern and Tayside advised drivers to travel with caution.
The strong winds closed the Forth Road Bridge, Erskine Bridge and Tay Road Bridge, leading to significant congestion as drivers, many sent home early, struggled to find alternative routes.
Many rail services were cancelled or delayed due to obstructions on the line and a blanket 50mph speed limit across the Scottish network. Caledonian MacBrayne ferries to the Western Isles were cancelled, with other ferry timetables severely disrupted.
At Scotland’s airports, more than 100 flights were cancelled, and some arriving passengers had to wait almost two hours to disembark, as the winds were too strong to use steps or air-bridges. One pilot told passengers it was the worst weather he had flown through in 36 years.
The winds caused a number of incidents across Scotland. Chunks of sandstone plummeted 45ft to the pavement as high winds battered a building in Bellshill, Lanarkshire. As the structure began to crumble away, it damaged the roof of an adjoining building, as well as scattering debris across the road and pavement. Police shut off the road and ordered residents and shop owners to be evacuated.
Darren Muir, 32, of Bellshill, said: “It was deafening. At first I thought it was maybe a car crash, but then I looked out and saw a big plume of dust cover the street.”
Articulated lorries were blown over at Glenshiel in the Highlands, Alexandria near Loch Lomond and at the Rest and Be Thankful, while a school bus overturned on the A737 in Dalry, Ayrshire, with the driver escaping with minor injuries.
In North Queensferry, a large tree in the car park of the Queensferry Hotel crashed on to a car, leaving the driver shaken but unhurt, while in Aberdeen’s Union Street, gale-force winds tore down a Christmas lights display, ripping a chunk of granite from the wall of the building, and leaving crumpled 6ft red baubles blocking the bus lane.
Last night, four stretches of pavement in Union Street were sealed off because of structural concerns about buildings, as high winds continued to batter Europe’s oil capital.
The wind was also too much for the machines designed to harness its energy. The A1107 was closed outside Coldingham in Berwickshire after fears were raised that blades from a wind turbine could fly off and scythe through neighbouring properties, which were evacuated as a precaution. After the blades were removed, the road was reopened and residents allowed to return.
A wind turbine in North Ayrshire, owned by Infinis, caught fire during the gales. Stuart McMahon, a resident in Ardrossan who photographed the flames, said: “The fire was out quickly, but some debris fell from it and drifted quite a distance.”
Another resident, Tom Young, said: “It was quite spectacular.”
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted the government had not overreacted.
She said: “I took part with colleagues in a resilience meeting last night. The Met Office was saying it was the highest possible warning. Police were saying there would probably – and it turned out to be the reality – be ‘no travel’ warnings.
“It was incumbent on government to react appropriately. The decision taken was right and appropriate.” Anyone who has seen the pictures across the country would agree with that.”
At Edinburgh Waverley station, Amanda Hannah disagreed. She was stuck en route to Newcastle, where she hoped to see the band Kasabian in concert.
The 37-year-old faced cancelled buses in Glasgow, so she paid for a taxi from her home to Queen Street station. But after getting to Edinburgh, she was trapped again by the weather.
“It’s ridiculous,” she said. “I had to fork out over £25 for a taxi because the bus was cancelled, and now I’m in Edinburgh and the train is cancelled. They’re overreacting for sure.”
Drinking peach schnapps to pass the time, she said: “Who knows when we’ll get going.”
FORECAST
TODAY is likely to start icy in many areas of Scotland.
There will be snow showers over some parts of the country during the course of the day, but these will mostly die out by evening.
Lothian and Borders will generally be drier with sunny spells.
The winds will drop to “moderate”, apart from in the north of Scotland where there could be gale-force blasts and blizzards. There will be frost in the evening for most of the country.
On Saturday, there will again be snow showers in many areas. They will be particularly strong further north, where it will be bitterly cold.
In more southerly areas it is likely to be brighter and drier later in the day.