The Met Office’s yellow wind warning for the north-east this weekend has been upgraded to a more serious amber, ahead of Storm Malik’s arrival.
Covering the entire east coast from Elgin to Eyemouth, the warning tells people to expect power cuts, some damage to buildings and the risk of injuries and danger to life from flying debris and large waves.
It will remain in effect for a large portion of Saturday, beginning at 7am and due to come to an end at 3pm – though the worst of the winds, forecast to be in excess of 75mph, are expected to be in the morning.
The storm – named Malik by the Danish Meteorological Institute – is likely to disrupt transport on roads, rail, sea and in the air, with some routes facing closure.
Aberdeenshire Council’s incident management team met today, and will continue to meet throughout the weekend to assess how services are being deployed.
Residents are being asked to secure loose objects that could be blown around and cause damage; check in on elderly or vulnerable neighbours, friends and family members; and stock up on bottled water, food supplies and batteries for torches in case of outages.
ScotRail has announced train speed limits will be in force on parts of the Dundee-Aberdeen, Aberdeen-Inverness, Far North, West Highland and Kyle lines on Saturday morning into the early afternoon, meaning passengers will need to allow more time for their journeys.
Yellow warning for rest of Scotland
The rest of Scotland, including the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland, remains under the original yellow weather warning for wind.
It will last from 4am until 3pm, except for Shetland where the warning comes into effect at 12pm and is due to end at 8pm.
Gusts of more than 75mph on way
Western Isles Council echoes Aberdeenshire’s advice to residents, and suggested they check the CalMac website for updates on ferry disruption.
The Met Office said: “An area of very strong west or northwest winds will cross Scotland on Saturday morning before easing during the afternoon.
“The strongest winds are expected in the east of Scotland later in the morning.
“Gusts of widely 50-60 mph are likely with a short period of gusts in excess of 75 mph, particularly for Moray and north Aberdeenshire as well as the Lothians.”
From 6pm on Sunday, most of Scotland will fall under a yellow weather warning for wind that also covers a majority of the UK north of Wales.
However, that warning will not include Orkney or Shetland.
