Scotland battered by strong winds and heavy rain as roads flooded amid yellow warning

Key Points

Yellow weather warning for strong winds of up to 70mph in place
Alert covers all of Scotland with disruption to travel being felt
Trees fall on lines affecting Edinburgh and Moray passengers
Roads closed due to flooding and standing water in the West
Ferry services cancelled due to adverse weather

Scotland is being battered by strong winds and heavy rain amid a yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office.

Heavy rain on Friday is being followed by strong winds with gusts of up to 70mph on Sunday.

The Met Office confirmed all parts of the country will be hit with strong winds with disruption to travel routes and on roads being felt.

Southerly to southwesterly winds are expected to increase through Sunday morning, peaking late morning to early afternoon with gusts of 50-60mph.

The warning is expected to last until around 6pm on Sunday.

📸 Here's a photo of the fallen tree we're dealing with at Livingston South.

We'll begin work to remove it as soon as the power supply to the overhead lines is made safe. That's underway now.@ScotRail @transcotland pic.twitter.com/CZVKU0jKfy
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) February 23, 2025

The A77 at Lendalfoot in South Ayrshire is currently restricted in both directions due to flooding, according to Traffic Scotland.

A number of ferry services in the west of Scotland operated by Calmac were also cancelled on Sunday morning due to the adverse weather.

A tree on the track blocking the railway between Forres and Elgin has resulted in all lines being closed.

Network Rail are on site to remove the tree amid disruption on the route.

A failure of the electricity supply between Glasgow Central and Livingston South meant all lines are closed until 6pm on Sunday, according to ScotRail.

Engineers from Network Rail are investigating after a tree also fell on the line.

All Western Ferry services were cancelled on Sunday due to the adverse weather.

Insight Sean Batty STV News meteorologist

After weeks of colder and relatively settled weather, we’re about to shift into a much more unsettled but milder spell.

Temperatures on Thursday and Friday could climb into the mid-teens in parts of the north, particularly around Moray and the north Highlands.

However, the biggest talking point will be rainfall, especially on Friday and Sunday, which are set to be the wettest days.

On Friday alone, areas such as Argyll, East Ayrshire, Stirlingshire, and Perthshire could see as much as 70mm of rain on higher ground.

Combined with additional rainfall on Thursday and Sunday, totals could exceed 100mm in the wettest parts of the west Highlands and the western end of the Southern Uplands.

To put that into perspective, Perthshire typically sees around 100mm of rain for the entire month of February, meaning some areas could receive three weeks’ worth of rain in just a few days.

Other particularly wet spots will include the higher areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, where around 60mm could fall—Clyde Muirshiel will be especially wet.

Strong winds will also be a feature in the coming days, with the worst conditions again expected on Friday and Sunday.

Wind gusts up to 70mph are possible for a time on Friday across Arran, Kintyre, the Small Isles, and the Outer Hebrides, with similar gusts expected again on Sunday, extending to the Northern Isles.

Looking ahead, this unsettled pattern is likely to continue until March, with further spells of windy and wet weather, interspersed with brief colder, more wintry periods.

At this stage, it looks like March will come in like a lion — let’s hope it goes out like a lamb though.