Fife Weather Amber Alert: Travel warning as Storm Ali nears

The Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing are set to come under restrictions, while ScotRail is monitoring conditions ahead of the storm.

High-sided vehicles and double decker buses look set to be banned for large portions of the day.

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Transport Scotland says the winds are likely to impact travel, particularly during peak times on Wednesday morning, with gusts expected to reach 75mph in some areas.

A ScotRail spokesperson said: “The Met Office has issue yellow and amber warnings for tomorrow with high winds forecast.

“We’re planning to run a normal timetable.

“We’ll continue to monitor the forecast and advise customers of any disruption via our social media feeds, website and app.

“To make sure we deal with any weather related incidents quickly and efficiently, we have contingency plans in place at key locations and will do everything we can to keep people moving.”

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson said: “The Met Office is telling us the southern half of Scotland in particular is going to see some difficult weather tomorrow as a result of Storm Ali. More generally, the whole of the country is going to see blustery conditions throughout Wednesday.

“The strongest winds are expected to reach 75mph in some places, and will likely bring some heavy rainfall with them.

“There is the potential for disruption on the roads, especially on bridges, and people should check the latest information before they set off, drive to the conditions and follow Police advice. The Traffic Scotland service gives details of ‘wind based’ closures for the bridges on trunk road network, allowing people to plan ahead accordingly.

“Motorists should check Traffic Scotland before they set off to make sure that their route is available. The Traffic Scotland mobile website – my.trafficscotland.org – lets people get the latest information on the move and Traffic Scotland twitter page is updated regularly.

“The conditions are also likely to lead to disruption on other modes of transport, so we are urging people to take the weather into account if they are planning to travel on trains, ferries and flights.

“The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) will also be active throughout Wednesday to monitor wider impacts of Storm Ali and to work with partners in helping co-ordinate the response to any issues that might emerge.”

Head of Road Policing, Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, said: “If you are driving a vehicle which may be vulnerable to being blown over in such conditions along exposed routes including bridges, please exercise additional caution and plan your route to avoid exposed areas or consider cancelling your journey until conditions improve.

“Previous incidents have clearly shown the dangers of driving vehicles vulnerable to being blown over in high wind conditions and the subsequent danger created for other road users, emergency services and recovery operatives where incidents have occurred due to drivers ignoring warnings.”

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