Storm Henry batters the Highlands
Strong winds have closed a number of bridges to high-sided vehicles, including the Kessock, Dornoch, Cromarty and Skye bridges and a lorry driver was lucky to escape injury after his vehicle was blown over on the A9 at the Cromarty Bridge.
It happened shortly before 10am on Monday, around five hours before Storm Henry was due to come into force. The latest storm, which is expected to bring gusts of up to 80mph, followed a weekend of snow, sleet and rain showers brought by Storm Gertrude.
The lorry, which belongs to Highgrove – a West Yorkshire-based company which sells beds –, had been travelling northbound on the A9 at the time.
A police spokesman said no-one was injured.
“The bridge was fully closed after it happened,” he said. “It reopened to traffic at 1pm and no other vehicles were affected.”
An amber warning for wind remains in effect for the Inverness area until 10am on Tuesday, with a yellow warning for rain due to run until 9pm on Tuesday.
The A82 has also been restricted to cars only at Glencoe after two HGVs and a van were blown over on Monday morning. The same road suffered flooding at Clachaig, near Glencoe, after a watercourse on private land above the carriageway began overflowing on to the carriageway. Teams from BEAR Scotland are working to re-route the water and the road is passable with care.
Firefighters from Kinlochleven and Fort William rescued two people from the HGVs after they blew onto their sides.
In the first incident at around 8.45am, a driver was trapped inside his vehicle and working with partners from the Scottish Ambulance Service, firefighters removed the front window and extricated the driver from his cab before placing him in the care of paramedics.
Less than an hour later the appliances were back on the scene following a report of a second HGV on its side at Rannoch Moor, Glencoe.
Firefighters used hydraulic cutting gear to remove the driver from his lorry and he was also placed in the care of paramedics.
Further north on the A82, the road has reopened at Letterfinlay and all materials have been cleared from the road following a wash out this morning.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Unit representative said: “We are doing everything possible to keep roads open however high winds and heavy rain is continuing to affect trunk roads and for safety a number of vehicle restrictions have been implemented by Police Scotland on some routes.
“Severe weather conditions are continuing so we advise motorists to take extra care on roads, always ensuring to drive to conditions and to plan ahead where possible by checking the Traffic Scotland website for up-to-date information.”
Journey information is available from Traffic Scotland at www.trafficscotland.org or twitter @trafficscotland.
