Perth and Kinross residents could endure further travel and power disruptions as stormy snowy weather is expected to hit the region once again.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the county from 3am until 6pm tomorrow (February 18), advising “heavy snow and some strong winds” brought on by Storm Eunice.
Storm Eunice will bump into cold air as it arrives from the Atlantic, creating snowfall in central and southern Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland and northern England.
Substantial snowfall reaching up to 5cm is expected in lowland areas and over higher ground a heaping 20 to 30cm.
Temperatures will drop to 3 to 4C and go below zero through the day amid the snow.
As a result, the national weather service advises “a chance of travel delays” on roads, possibly with “stranded vehicles and passengers”, along with “delayed or cancelled rail and air travel”.
It adds that there is a “slight chance” that some rural communities could be temporarily cut off and chance that “power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.”
“Now through Thursday evening, the winds continue to relax, and as a result if you’re heading to bed on Thursday night, you might think it’s quite calm out there, but very quickly storm Eunice is gearing up as a more powerful storm than Dudley,” said Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern.
Storm Eunice is to be “more powerful” than Storm Dudley which caused havoc in other parts of the country earlier this week.
The Met Office issued an amber weather warning active from 4pm on Wednesday across central and south Scotland and the north of England, with gusts potentially hitting 90 miles per hour.
The amber warning expired at midnight on Wednesday, and downgraded to a yellow warning which will last right through until Friday evening.
ScotRail train services in Perth and Kinross ceased running by 4pm on Wednesday afternoon as a safety precaution.
Network Rail said it would have additional engineers out across the network ready to react to problems and to check all affected lines for damage before reintroducing services.
Perthshire North MSP John Swinney on Wednesday warned that both storms would be “very challenging” as they batter the country.
The deputy first minister added that disruption to travel and power supplies as well as danger from falling trees is expected.
“We expect another period of disruption this week, with Storms Dudley and Eunice set to bring strong winds to Scotland,” he said.
“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.”
Following a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room, Mr Swinney said they would continue to monitor the situation as the storms approach.
