Storm Dennis full of menace as bomb cyclone batters Britain

Waves at Saltcoats as Storm Dennis hits the west coast

Scotland faces a weekend of menace from Storm Dennis as gusts of up to 80mph and torrential rain continue to batter the country.

The extreme conditions, dubbed a weather bomb cyclone, wreaked havoc with transport, forced the cancellation of sports events and saw danger-to-life warnings issued across Scotland yesterday.

Further disruption is expected today with the high winds not due to subside until Tuesday.

Two bodies were pulled from rough seas off Kent as the storms swept the whole of the UK. The body of a man missing from a tanker anchored off Margate was found after a seven-hour search, while the body of an 18-year-old man was pulled from the sea at Herne Bay.

North of the border, ferries were cancelled and road conditions were treacherous. The M9 was shut near Bannockburn and the rail line between Perth and Pitlochry was closed due to flooding.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency yesterday had in place 33 flood alerts or warnings.

The Rangers v Livingston and Motherwell v St Mirren Premiership matches were among football games called off with the Rangers v Livi game rescheduled for today.

The weather has been described as a “bomb cyclone” after it left US shores two days ago. The central pressure of Storm Dennis was forecast to drop to 920 millibars, the second-lowest ever in the North Atlantic, with only the 914 millibars recorded in 1982 stronger.

An amber warning was issued by the Met Office yesterday for southern Scotland, where local council officials embedded themselves in an underground bunker built to withstand a nuclear strike.

While yesterday’s threat from Dennis was largely for rain, the emphasis today switched to winds topping 70mph.

Yesterday’s highest wind speed in Scotland was 77mph recorded on South Uist at 10am.

Four flood warnings yesterday were for the south-west of the country and it was feared coastal surge could inundate properties in the area. In Dumfries, the Whitesands car park was closed after the banks of the River Nith burst due to heavy rainfall coupled with snow melt.

Drivers experienced horrendous conditions on the roads and a landslide hit the A82 at Three Sisters Park near Glencoe. The same road was partially blocked near Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire as was the A75 at Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway. Fallen trees caused both incidents.

The Forth Road Bridge and Tay Bridge were closed to double-decker buses while the Skye Bridge and Kessock Bridge in Inverness-shire were closed to high-sided vehicles as the winds picked up.

Repair work on the Erskine Bridge in Dunbartonshire was suspended due to the weather.

All 28 CalMac routes on the west coast were placed under notice of cancellation or suspension and the ferry company warned sailings were likely to be disrupted today and tomorrow.

British Airways and easyJet flights were cancelled at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports.

Giant waves more than 32ft high were recorded off the Western Isles in the North Atlantic.

Coastguards said volunteers on Lewis were verbally abused by an individual who tried to cross the Braighe Causeway near Stornoway, shut yesterday during dangerous conditions. It reopened about 2.30pm.

Customers in Lochmaddy and in the Grenitote and Solas area of North Uist were without power yesterday after wires came down about 8am.

A yellow warning for wind for all of Scotland extends into Monday when the morning rush hour is expected to be affected.

Simon Partridge of the Met Office said: “It’s believed Storm Dennis will be even more powerful than Storm Ciara. It’s highly unusual to have such disruptive weather events in successive weekends.

“It’s not until 6am or 7am on Monday that the winds begin to ease.”

Blustery wintry showers, with thunder, becoming very windy by evening. Max 8C (46F). Min 1C (33F).

Still windy in morning, with mixture of hail, sleet and snow showers. Max 10C (50F). Min 2C (35F).

Winds easing down but still possibility of snow on hills.

Max 8C (46F). Min -1C (30F).