East Lothian is currently covered by a medium impact, yellow warning for wind from 6am tomorrow (Saturday) to 6am on Sunday. The warning covers strong winds associated with Storm Darragh likely leading to impacts to the transport sector, while the strong winds are also likely to bring disruption to utilities and potentially dangerous conditions and damage to infrastructure.

Can I ask you to note that the Met Office have highlighted that this warning is one step below an Amber warning for East Lothian with winds expected to start to pick up in eastern areas from late-morning, with East Lothian, the Borders and eastern Grampian & Tayside likely to see particularly strong northerly winds through much of the rest of Saturday. The MET Office will monitor this and there is a possibility that the warning may be escalated to Amber if they feel it necessary.
SEPA also have flood warnings in place due to heavy rain and on Saturday a low-risk warning for the East Coast in relation to the possibility of minor coastal impacts from wave and spray overtopping due to the strong winds leading to localised disruption to travel and flooding of coastal land and roads in exposed locations.

Due to these warnings please following Police Scotland travel advice as well as considering any need to travel on Saturday or visit the coast as there is a likelihood of travel disruption as well as the following potential impacts as noted by the Met Office:

• Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen
• Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible
• Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage
• Injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties
• Some roads and bridges may close
• Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible

Scottish Government have issued the following advice via social media which is very useful and should be followed:

Stay Safe by:
• Securing outdoor objects around your property
• Calling 105 in the event of a power cut
• Taking care by the coast as there may be large waves and spray, and following Police Scotland travel advice
• Safely checking if friends or neighbours need any help

MET Office message as at 11:04 06/12/24:

Storm Darragh will approach from the west later today to bring another mix of impactful conditions across Scotland and the wider UK. The forecast remains relatively consistent from yesterday and we have made a few updates to the warnings which are summarised below:

• Amber Wind warning for South Ayrshire and D&G: upgraded to high impacts (low likelihood). Remaining valid from 0300 – 2100 Saturday.
• New snow warning issued for upland central Scotland between Stirling and Inverness. Valid 20:00 today – 09:00 Saturday. Low impacts.
• New yellow wind warning for the east coast – now low likelihood of medium impacts (one step below amber). Valid from 15:00 today – 06:00 Sunday.
• Existing yellow wind warning remains unchanged for southwestern Scotland from the Central Belt southwards (very low likelihood of medium impacts). Valid from 15:00 today – 06:00 Sunday.
• Rain warning for southern and eastern Scotland remaining unchanged, valid 15:00 today – 12:00 Saturday. Low impacts.

This will be the first occasion that we have seen wind speeds at this strength from a northerly direction since Storm Arwen. The speeds currently look a notch down from Arwen for Scotland, however as we know the unusual direction can significantly influence the impact level. We can expect to see impacts across different sectors, including utilities and transport.
We are closely monitoring the wind speeds across eastern Scotland from late Saturday morning into the evening, if the confidence increases around the strong northerly winds then we could see an escalation to amber for parts of eastern Scotland and eastern England.

We are likely to see impacts to the transport sector from wind, rain and snow. The strong winds are also likely to bring disruption to utilities and potentially dangerous conditions and damage to infrastructure.

It is worth noting that some exceptionally strong winds are expected through the Irish Sea, with a red warning for wind issued for western Wales and southwest England so this is likely to become a significant event at a UK national level.

In more detail:

Rain and snow: After a settled start today, Storm Darragh will begin to make its presence felt in western Scotland during the late afternoon as rain and hill snow (above around 200-300m) spreads in from the west, and winds begin to pick up. This will give unpleasant, wet and windy conditions fairly widely over central and southern Scotland, with the potential for surface water problems on transport networks, and wintry hazards over higher ground north of Stirling. Rain and hill snow will be heavy and fairly persistent for most of the evening before it breaks up into more patchy precipitation during Saturday morning. Accumulations of 20-30mm can be expected widely, and as much as 50-60mm over the higher ground of southern and central Scotland.
About 2 to 5cm of snow is expected to fall above 200 or 300m across central Scotland, with 10 to 20cm above 400m which will bring difficult travelling conditions and some disruption to higher routes. Drifting of lying snow across the very highest routes above 400m may add to the impacts. Temporary snow accumulations may also affect lower levels for a time on Friday evening. The snow will become more showery and turn to rain or sleet through Saturday morning.

Wind: Gusty southeasterly winds will develop across central and southern Scotland during Friday evening before a slight lull overnight. However during Saturday morning we see a further strengthening and a sharp change of wind direction, with gusts of 60-70mph possible for parts of Dumfries and Galloway and southern parts of Ayrshire from a north or northwesterly direction. This is an unusual direction for winds of this strength, so trees and infrastructure are likely to be more vulnerable to damage. Winds will start to pick up in eastern areas from late-morning, with East Lothian, the Borders and eastern Grampian & Tayside likely to see particularly strong northerly winds through much of the rest of Saturday. This will be closely monitored and there’s a possibility that we may see warning escalation in these areas too. Storm Darragh finally moves away early on Sunday, and after this we can expect the weather to become more settled, albeit a little colder.

Once again, we can expect to see impacts across different areas at varying times from different weather parameters so please try to familiarise yourselves with the forecast details for your region through our website and social media.

The Flood Guidance Statement issued in partnership with SEPA outlines the flood risk in more detail.