Travel caution urged as Scotland welcomes New Year

Scots have been urged to take care when travelling at new year in the aftermath of severe weather warnings across the country.

Heavy rain and wind caused widespread disruption on Hogmanay, with roads closed, trains cancelled and power cuts, particularly around Inverness and the Highlands.

The north of the country faces further weather warnings for snow and ice to start 2025.

However, rail operator ScotRail said it was hopeful services could fully resume on 2 January once Network Rail carried out repairs on affected lines.

David Ross, ScotRail’s communications director, told BBC Scotland News that “the vast majority” of services had operated normally on Hogmanay, but that there had been “challenges” in the north of Scotland.

Trains between Inverness and Perth were cancelled following the closure of the main railway line in the Highlands, while a landslip blocked the line at Brora and flooding halted all services between Wick and Thurso on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Ross said the rail operator not running any trains on New Year’s Day meant work could progress on repairs. Network Rail will be using helicopters to inspect the railway tracks.

He added: “Network Rail will take that time to inspect the roots and carry out any repair work, so that hopefully we can get back to a full, normal timetable on Thursday, but our advice to customers is to check before you travel.”

Although the majority of weather warnings – which included an amber alert for part of the Highlands – have now passed, government agency Transport Scotland advised those travelling on New Year’s Day to be cautious and plan ahead.

Yellow weather warnings remain in place for Grampian and the Highlands until 09:00 on 2 January with snow and ice expected to create “difficult” conditions.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “Although the amber warning and the worst of the conditions has now hopefully passed, we would still urge the public to check before they travel. Please drive to the conditions, follow police travel advice, and allow extra time for your journeys.

“There is still a fair amount of localised flooding and a number of weather warnings remain in place. We’ve chaired another call with our key operational partners and the Multi Agency Response Team to ensure operating companies have suitable resources in place.

“We are grateful to staff who are out working 24/7 in challenging conditions to help keep most major roads open, with care and caution.”

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued nearly 50 flood warnings and alerts regarding the heavy rainfall.

Pascal Lardet, Sepa’s flood duty manager, said that while levels had not been as high as feared for Aviemore and Carrbridge, there was “still a particular concern for communities along the Spey river”.

He said: “Other catchments affected include the Tay, Ness, Forth and Teith. I want to be clear that communities in these areas should stay alert as some rivers will continue to rise. People should still take any required action to protect themselves and their property.

“It’s been a difficult few days across Scotland, with weather causing widespread travel disruption to road and rail networks and impacts in communities.

“Across many areas of the country there is still some deep standing water and it’s really important people are prepared and aware of the danger.”

The bad weather caused power cuts in the far north of the country on Hogmanay, affecting hundreds of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks customers.

Engineers worked through the last few hours of 2024 to try and restore power to affected areas, which included parts of Sutherland, Orkney and Caithness.

A spokesperson for the company said workers would be “on alert” for any further issues with the electricity network.

They added that although forecasts showed a “lower risk” compared with Hogmanay, “additional teams were in place to respond” to any faults across the north of Scotland.

Concern over the weather meant Hogmanay festivities were muted in many parts of the country, with Edinburgh’s world famous outdoor celebrations scrapped on Monday.