Rail services in Scotland returning to normal after Storm Dudley

ScotRail said preparations are now under way ahead of Storm Eunice, which is due to hit the country on Friday.

Rail services are returning to normal (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Rail services in Scotland are returning to normal after Storm Dudley swept across the country, causing disruption to travel.

ScotRail services were wound down by 4pm on Wednesday due to Met Office amber weather warnings for high winds, though some services began running again on Thursday morning after safety checks on the line.

Scotland was buffeted with strong winds as Storm Dudley hit, with a gust of 74mph recorded at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire, the Met Office said.

Network Rail Scotland said its engineers have inspected more than 1,500 miles of track over the past ten hours and that apart from three signalling problems, Scotland’s Railway is “open for business”.

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “All routes across Scotland’s railway are now open with services returning to normal, following the severe weather during Storm Dudley.

“Network Rail engineers have worked tirelessly to inspect around 1,500 miles of railway, clear debris from the tracks and repair damage to the railway infrastructure.

“Preparations are now under way ahead of Storm Eunice and teams will be working around the clock to deal with any weather-related incidents quickly and efficiently.

“We ask customers who are planning to travel to keep an eye on our website, app or social media feeds for live updates.”

Storm Eunice is due to hit Scotland on Friday, bringing heavy snow and some strong winds to some parts of the country.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning which is in force from 3am until 6pm on February 18, which covers central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, Strathclyde, south west Scotland, Lothian and Borders.

Train services wound down early on Wednesday due to the storm (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Ferry passengers also faced disruption on Thursday.

Caledonian MacBrayne tweeted that a number of ferry services were liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice.

However, the company’s managing director Robbie Drummond said there was an “improving picture” on Thursday.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “Yesterday we ran 214 sailings, which was 54% of our timetable.

“We’re looking to improve on that today but clearly the majority of routes are liable to disruption.”

He added: “We’re aiming to get as many sailings done today as we can, before the further bad weather sets in for Friday.”

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney warned the coming days will be “very challenging” as a result of Storm Dudley and the expectation of Storm Eunice on Friday.

He said: “We expect another period of disruption this week, with storms Dudley and Eunice set to bring strong winds to Scotland.

“High winds may cause issues on roads and bridges, disruption to power supplies and danger from falling trees.

“We would urge everyone to plan their journeys in advance, exercise caution on the roads and follow the latest travel advice.”

The Met Office yellow alert for Friday warns there is a chance of travel delays on roads, possibly with stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel and a slight chance that some rural communities could be temporarily cut off.

Forecasters said there is a small chance of power cuts and that other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.