Scotland was battered by driving rain and gale-force winds overnight, as conditions forced the Tay Road Bridge to close for almost an hour.
The wind grew in strength throughout the day on Thursday and brought with it flooding and disruption to the roads and transport network.
Bridge officials closed the crossing in both directions at 7pm, after wind speeds peaked at 86mph. A queue of traffic could be seen along South Marketgait as Fife-bound drivers waited for an improvement in conditions. However the bridge duty inspector told The Courier even the footpath up the bridge’s centre had to be closed.
“Whenever wind speeds pick up above 80mph we have to close the bridge for health and safety reasons,” he said. “The bridge was reopened at 7.55pm but high-sided vehicles and buses are still not allowed to cross.
“Thankfully we closed shortly after the rush hour ended, otherwise it would have been a disaster.”
Others trying to return home found themselves at the weather’s mercy. At around 4pm police closed part of the westbound carriageway of Riverside Drive, near the Riverside Cafe, due to flooding.
Water crashed over the barrier and on to the road during high tide, causing the route to remain closed for around two hours. Conditions caused a commercial flight from London to Dundee to divert to Newcastle.AnxiousLarge swathes of Perthshire were anxiously weather watching again as sections of the area’s river system were placed on flood alert.
A flood warning SEPA’s second highest alert level is still in place for the Earn this morning along its length from Comrie to Bridge of Earn. Heavy rain and hill snow also saw the Ericht and Tay placed on the lower flood watch status, along with more than a dozen Scottish waterways.
Meanwhile, drivers reported flooding on the A9 south of Perth as high winds also battered the Strathearn area. The snow gates on the A93 at Spittal of Glenshee were closed by police early in the evening.
Meanwhile, Angus roads chiefs have been accused of being caught out by Thursday’s weather after a morning of commuter difficulties. Parts of the main A90 Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway were closed for a time after early morning blizzards swept across the district.
These caused a string of accidents, including one which saw a seriously injured woman cut free from her car near Forfar. Difficulties extended to rural parts of the county and it appeared the snow’s sudden return may have caught Angus Council on the hop.
The local authority confirmed that the first gritters did not drive the area’s routes until an hour after the early flakes fell.DifficultiesThere were major difficulties for drivers on the A90 for which snow clearing responsibility lies with trunk roads agency BEAR Scotland with the most serious incident at Muiryfaulds, between Forfar and Dundee, in which a young woman was freed from her Citroen after hitting a lamppost. That incident was followed by other crashes in the area of the Forfar bypass, none involving serious injury.
Police reported non-injury accidents in other parts of the district and one Montrose to Forfar commuter said the conditions were “dreadful.”
“There was around three inches of snow on the road to Forfar and it had not been touched by a snowplough,” said the angry driver. “The conditions were very slippery and dangerous. I stopped to assist one woman who had skidded off the road but fortunately wasn’t hurt.
“I think the council were taken by surprise given the amount of snow which fell so quickly,” he added.
An Angus Council spokesman said, “The snow began falling at 4am and the snow clearing operations throughout Angus began at 5am. The snow continued to fall until about 9am, with ice forming from about 7am.
“The crews ploughed and gritted back over the same routes, in some cases several times, up until about noon.”