Rain stops play as 110mph gales batter Britain

Severe gales and heavy rain brought chaos to Britain yesterday as forecasters predicted more storms this week.

Parts of the country were blasted with gusts of up to 111mph while waves as high as 30 feet raged at sea.

Football games across Scotland were cancelled or abandoned. The Rangers match at Stenhousemuir was called off after gales damaged temporary stands brought in to cope with the Ibrox club’s sizeable away support. Queen of the South’s home tie against Falkirk and Partick Thistle versus St Johnstone also fell foul of the poor conditions.

The stormy weather led to a number of ferry services on the west coast being cancelled while long stretches of roads were closed because of fallen trees and flooding.

Large waves caused by the strong winds also led to overtopping on exposed western coastlines. Power cables were brought down in South Ayrshire while the Forth, Tay and Skye road bridges were closed to high-sided vehicles.

Gusts of 65mph were recorded in South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, while Edinburgh and Glasgow were buffeted by wind speeds of up to 47mph. On higher ground, a gust of 111mph hit Tomintoul in the Cairngorms National Park.

The strong winds also closed Christmas attractions in Edinburgh, including the Big Wheel in Princes Street Gardens, while around 20 people were evacuated from Whitburn Junior Social Club and a nearby bungalow, after heavy tin roof sheeting blew off a nearby pavilion onto both buildings.

Meanwhile the Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued flood alerts for Argyll and Bute, Caithness and Sutherland, Orkney, Shetland, Wester Ross and the Western Isles.

There were also yellow “be aware” warnings issued for all areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the north west tip of Wales and north west England.

Last night Met Office forecaster Andrew Sibley warned gales and heavy rain would batter the far north and north west of Scotland today as well as Wednesday evening and Thursday morning with some gusts reaching 70mph.