Major motorway grinds to halt as bus, ferry & rail services axed amid Storm Bert

SCOTLAND’S busiest motorway ground to a halt with rail services axed and ferry communities cut off as Storm Bert travel chaos grips Scotland.

Heavy snow blocked roads across the country while train and ferry services were axed due to the “multi-hazard event” that brought in 70mph winds, heavy snow, rain and flooding.

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The Met Office issued two amber and three yellow weather warnings covering large areas of Scotland today.

Temperatures plummeted to a bone-chilling minus 4C across the country last night as many woke up to snow-covered roads.

Traffic Scotland has asked drivers to consider their travel plans as the M8 near Livingston is currently blocked around J3.

A picture shared by the agency shows three lanes of traffic on the motorway with dozens of vehicles at a standstill.

Heavy snow can be seen on the busy route that connects Glasgow and Edinburgh.

It is understood motors are losing traction causing the delays.

Gritters were deployed to try and make the route safer, but motorists have been urged to take care.

Earlier this morning, the M74 between Junction 13 and 14 in South Lanarkshire was at a standstill due to a collision.

It is understood the incident was caused by the poor weather.

Police Scotland are currently at the scene and are diverting traffic away via the slip road at J14.

THE Queensferry crossing which carries the M90 across the Firth of Forth has been closed due to Storm Bert.

BEAR Scotland, who maintain the roads, took the decision to close the busy bridge at 10.20am over risk of falling ice.

M90 traffic has been stopped as vehicles are redirected over the neighbouring Forth Road Bridge.

BEAR Scotland’s south east unit bridges manager, Dave Bishop, said: “Safety is our top priority, so we always have patrols out monitoring for ice on the Queensferry Crossing’s cables when forecasts suggest this is a possibility.”

Elsewhere, the A9 at Drumochter, A82 at Glencoe and A83 Rest and Be Thankful have all been affected by the heavy snow.

BEAR NW Trunk roads posted: “Our teams are working hard to clear the network, but please drive to conditions and check the roads via Traffic Scotland and local media before you travel.”

Snow gates are also set to be closed amid difficult conditions between Braemar and Glenshee.

Perth and Kinross Council confirmed the A93 Blairgowrie to Braemar Road is closed due to the weather conditions.

Network Rail urged passengers to plan ahead due to the storm as some journey may take longer than usual or have been cancelled.

Gusts of up to 65mph are expected to hit the Stranraer line with winds of between 30 and 35 mph due to blow across other parts of the country. 

Some areas including Abington-Beattock, on the West Coast Mainline, and Arrochar-Tyndrum, on the West Highland Line, could see snowfall of up to 15-25cm as well as blizzard conditions. 

A rapid thaw is then expected in the southwest during Saturday afternoon which could also lead to flooding. 

Trains on the following lines will run at a reduced speed this morning.

• West Highland Line
• Highland Mainline
• Stranraer line
• Far North Line
• West Coast Mainline, between Carstairs and the border.

ScotRail scrapped services in anticipation of power cuts and travel chaos.

ScotRail withdrew services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.

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Avanti West Coast, which runs the West Coast mainline services, has cancelled its services north of Preston all day.

Multiple ferry services scheduled for today and tomorrow are liable to cancellation at short notice, due to “forecast storm force winds”, said CalMac.

Sailings across the network were cancelled by the operator who issued a raft of red, amber and yellow warnings this morning.

CalMac scrapped all of its services to Barra to Eriskay, Oban to Castlebay, Oban to Coll, Tiree, Oban to Colonsay, Port Askaig and Kennacraig, and its Mallaig ferries to Armadale, Oban and Small Isles today.

All but one route has been disrupted and customers travelling to Mull, Arran, Bute, Cumbrae, Skye, and the Outer Hebrides to check their service status for further information.

Meanwhile, Western Ferries who runs a 20-minute sailing between Gourock and Dunoon over the Firth of Clyde suspended its services this morning.

The operator said it will review conditions at 10am.

And P&O cancelled a service between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west.

And Lothian Buses have cancelled all their services because of “adverse weather”.

All routes across Edinburgh have been axed to due safety concerns as Storm Bert continues to rage.

The capital’s bus provider apologised for the inconvenience and said their teams will continue to assess the safety of the routes.

BBC Scotland’s weather forecaster Christopher Blanchett told viewers: “It’s all change on the weather front this weekend, with an approaching area of low pressure that’s rapidly deepening.

“It is undergoing a process known as explosive cyclogenesis and this means a very windy spell of weather and rain and because cold air is in place, some snow as well.”