Met Office yellow weather warnings in place as Storm Franklin approaches Scotland

Parts of Scotland are set to be battered by more strong winds as Storm Franklin approaches the country.

Franklin will be the third storm in the space of a week to hit Scotland and it is the first time in the Met Office’s history that they have named three storms in such quick succession.

Yellow weather warnings are in place for wind, covering parts of Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, and Dumfries and Galloway.

The storm comes just two days after Storm Eunice caused what providers believe was a record national outage over a 24-hour period on Friday, with around 1.4 million homes affected across the UK.

STV Weather presenter Philip Petrie said: “Franklin will approach Scotland throughout Sunday, with winds picking up speed quickly through the afternoon. The Met Office have already issued a Yellow weather warning for strong winds, which covers parts of Ayrshire, Argyll & Bute and Dumfries & Galloway.

“This warning comes into effect at midday as we will see the winds beginning to pick up strength. Within the yellow warning area we could see 50-60mph gusts inland, 70mph around exposed coasts and some isolated gusts of 80mph. The strongest winds will be towards midnight, lasting until around 7am on Monday.

“Already these areas have been battered by Storms Dudley and Eunice, so with Franklin on the way this could affect ongoing recovery efforts and with trees and structures already weakened by the previous two storms it could lead to a lot of disruption, damage and prove a danger to life.”

Some 18 flood warnings and seven alerts have also been issued across the Scottish Borders, Ayrshire, Orkney and the Western Isles by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Scotrail wound down its network early last Thursday as Storm Dudley swept across the country, quickly followed by Storm Eunice.

The storms caused significant disruption to rail and ferry services, with trees blown on to train tracks and overhead power lines.