The Scottish Professional Football League has confirmed that several games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed following significant weather warnings for much of the country.
The SPFL has been in discussions with clubs, Police Scotland and relevant authorities on the developing situation and after the red weather warning issued for Tayside, Aberdeenshire and Angus earlier today, it has postponed matches in the interests of safety.
Calum Beattie, SPFL chief operating officer, said: “We have been in close contact with Police Scotland and our clubs and it’s clear that we continue to face very severe weather, particularly in the North East, in the coming days.
“We never postpone any matches lightly, but our discussions with the emergency services left us in no doubt that this was the correct decision.”
The matches postponed across the SPFL include; Aberdeen v Dundee, St Johnstone v Motherwell, Arbroath v Raith Rovers, Morton v Inverness, Cove Rangers v Montrose, Elgin City v Forfar Athletic and Stenhousemuir v Peterhead.
The SPFL say they will continue to monitor the situation involving remaining fixtures across the country, and new dates for the postponed fixtures will be announced in due course.
St Johnstone confirmed the postponement of their match with Motherwell in a statement. It read: "The club can confirm that our match against Motherwell tomorrow afternoon has been postponed.
"The decision to postpone the match has been made in the interest of public safety as emergency services are currently stretched thin. Additionally, further extreme weather conditions are forecast across the Perthshire area with a red weather warning now in place until tomorrow midnight.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the club has not raised any issues or concerns regarding the playing surface or surrounding areas in McDiarmid Park."
An Aberdeen statement on their postponement for their match with Dundee added: "The SPFL and Police Scotland have confirmed Saturday’s cinch Premiership match against Dundee at Pittodrie has been postponed.
"Much of the Scottish east coast has been ravaged by Storm Babet, leading to significant damage, disruption and, tragically, loss of life.
"Pittodrie itself has not been immune, with both wind damage and flooding sustained in both the Richard Donald and Main Stands.
"With the United Kingdom MET Office having updated its weather warning status to red for large parts of the northeast on Saturday, the most severe threat level which includes a risk to life, Police Scotland and the SPFL have postponed the fixture, along with five others, to a future date."
Chief Executive Alan Burrows commented: “Given the current awful weather and the updated warnings now in place for Saturday, and the associated risk that would pose to the players, staff, and supporters of both clubs, postponing this match to a later date was the only sensible and logical step.
“It goes without saying that we would ask everyone to heed the current warnings and advice and stay safe until the worst of the weather has passed.”
The dates and kick-off times of the rearranged matches will be confirmed by clubs and the SPFL in due course.
