Storms hit Falkirk and more bad weather predicted
Abandon bus! Storm chaos hits Falkirk
Residents and businesses across the district are bracing themselves for more stormy weather.
After last week’s snowfalls, which were quickly followed by hurricane-force gales and flooding, the Met Office has issued further severe weather warnings.
More overnight rain was predicted last night which is likely to continue this morning and dropping temperatures could lead to icy conditions for motorists.
This has led to the Met Office issuing a yellow ‘be alert’ warning of ice, which is in place until 11 a.m. today.
Last Thursday, the worst storm for over 25 years left a trail of destruction across Scotland, disrupting many businesses, services and communities.
Officials at Falkirk Council took the decision to close all schools from lunchtime and council buildings from 1 p.m.
Falkirk Community Trust-run facilities, including libraries and sports centres, were also closed.
Forth Valley College shut at 11 a.m. on police advice.
In Polmont, a clothes bank blew on to a car and part of Falkirk High Street was closed off as masonry fell from Callendar Square shopping mall.
Double decker buses were taken off the road after several blew over in the gales, which in parts of the country reached up to 165mph.
The driver and passengers on a bus had a lucky escape when it left the road and ended up in fields adjacent to the A883 Camelon to Roughmute road.
This week a spokesperson for bus operators First said: “No-one was injured on the vehicle and we are working with the local authorities to determine the cause.
“Due to the weather conditions on this date we did all we could to minimise the impact to customers, operating as close to our advertised schedules as possible. For safety reasons we withdrew all of our double deck vehicles from operation in the afternoon which did have an effect on the operation of some journeys.”
Around 5.30 p.m. last Thursday emergency services were called to another incident on the same road when firefighters had to help remove a man trapped in a vehicle after a collision.
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service was kept busy throughout the day dealing with call outs caused by the ferocious gales. This included helping to remove a blown-down fence which had landed on cars parked at Grangemouth Health Centre in Kersiebank Avenue.
A spokeswoman for Falkirk Council said although schools and buildings were closed as a precaution, the district had escaped relatively unscathed compared to other parts of Central Scotland.
The wintry weather continued over the weekend but snow which fell on Saturday quickly cleared. However, it returned with torrential rain overnight on Tuesday leaving motorists facing several flooded roads yesterday.
Throughout the day the A883 between Winchester Avenue, Denny and Lochlands Loan, Falkirk, was only just passable in both directions because of flooding.
It was a similar situation on the A803 Callendar Road in Falkirk between the roundabout at Callendar Business Park and Corporation Street.
Assistant Chief Constable Allan Moffat said: “The police service in Scotland will continue to work in close association with partners in the Met Office, Government agencies and trunk road operators, to ensure that clear and concise safety messages are made available as soon as they are available.
“We will continue to monitor the situation with partner agencies throughout the course of the week and are aware of the possibility of further wind and snow for southern Scotland on Thursday, which will lead to further advice on precautions to be taken.”
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Weather for Falkirk
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
