The West Coast is being hit with heavy rain amid a yellow weather warning today.
A Met Office warning came into force at midnight and is due to come to an end at around 10am.
There are a number of disruptions to travel across the region as transport providers try to reduce the risk of accidents.
Sepa has also issued flood alerts for Argyll and Bute, Skye and Lochaber and Wester Ross.
Tuesday isn’t forecast to be the last of the bad weather, with a yellow warning for strong winds forecast across the whole country on Wednesday.
Rest and Be Thankful closure
The A83 Rest and Be Thankful was closed from 7pm on Monday evening in preparation for this morning’s rain.
Drivers are being diverted down the single-track Old Military Road and Bear Scotland said on its website similar closures “may be required over the course of the coming week.”
Due to forecast heavy rain, the #A83 Rest and be Thankful will operate under convoy control until 7pm this evening. The Old Military Road will then be used from 7pm tonight as a safety precaution. More here: https://t.co/QJ464Z5z32 pic.twitter.com/nzWNlCnhGO
— BEAR NW Trunk Roads (@NWTrunkRoads) October 3, 2022
Councillors in recent weeks have called for improvements to the landslip-prone road to be sped up to stop closures like this from happening.
The reopening of the Rest and be Thankful will be considered on Wednesday morning, but with more rain and wind forecast teams “remain on high alert”.
Ferry cancellations
Following on from Monday’s cancellations, a number of CalMac services operating around the west coast will again not operate on Tuesday.
This is due to strong winds and sea swells affecting sailings. Some services have also been cancelled due to repairs being under way.
The following routes are at risk of cancellation:
- Claonaig – Lochranza
- Gourock – Dunoon
- Gourock – Kilcreggan
- Mallaig – Lochboisdale
- Sconser – Raasay
- Uig – Lochmaddy
- Fionnphort – Iona
- Oban – Craignure
- Uig – Tarbert
- Ardrossan – Brodick
Passengers can check the most up-to-date information on CalMac’s website.
Train speed restrictions
Network Rail has imposed speed restrictions on a number of lines and expects this will remain the case until Wednesday.
Speed restrictions are currently in place in the following areas:
- West Coast line
- Kyle line
- Garve – Lochluichart
- Achnasheen – Achnashellach
Journeys on these lines will be longer than usual.
🌧️ We joined an extreme weather teleconference with partners from across #ScotlandsRailway earlier on today to discuss some especially heavy rain due across Western Scotland from tomorrow evening. /1 pic.twitter.com/gEySmmOZOv
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) October 2, 2022
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