MAJOR travel disruption reigned over the weekend as Argyll and Bute endured a sizeable pre-Christmas storm, which made landfall without a name.
Ferries were cancelled for most of the day and some homes in the local region experienced power cuts, as trees came down in gusts of 60/70mph winds which affected power lines.
A spokesperson for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution said:
“SSEN’s teams in Argyll have been working hard in difficult conditions to restore supplies to customers who’ve lost power following the weekend’s sustained storm-force winds.
“Gusts of 60-70mph have been widespread, and the strength of the winds has made responding to faults especially challenging. Engineers had to pause repairs to the fault affecting customers in Blairmore on Sunday evening as the number of trees continuing to fall risked making conditions unsafe for our teams to operate.
“As conditions have allowed, we’re worked hard to reconnect customers as safely and quickly as possible, and our customer care teams have been in touch with those affected to keep them up to date. We’ve also spoken to customers who’ve been off supply for a longer period and made them aware of the welfare provisions they’re entitled to.
“We’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we’ve responded to the impact of this storm as safely and quickly as we could.”
Surprisingly the A83 remained open all weekend and road users were able to travel to and from Argyll albeit with extra care. One social media user who had driven over the Rest and Be Thankful at the height of the storm on Sunday remarked that her car was ‘literally bouncing with the wind.’
There was also reports of metal sheep feeders blocking parts of the road which had been swept onto the A83 by strong gusts of wind.
As the storm raged the Holy Loch in Sandbank provided a dramatic backdrop as gusts whipped up sea spray and water broiled resulting in a perfect demonstration of the power of Mother Nature. Scenes perfectly captured by local photographer Richard Harvey of Ardmore Studio.
Elsewhere on the Clyde CalMac, were forced to cancel 29 of its 30 routes across Scotland on Sunday and crossings from Dunoon to Gourock and Bute to Wemyss Bay were suspended early afternoon for the rest of the day.
Western Ferries were also affected by the storm with services cancelled for most of the day however boats did run again around 7.30pm, much to the relief of a number of stranded motorists in Gourock.
The following day, travel disruption persisted as many people who had cancelled their pre-Christmas shopping trips on Sunday took to the roads instead.
On Monday morning, a long queue of vehicles formed at Western Ferries, stretching beyond Hunter’s Quay Holiday Village and there was a reported mile long tailback of cars at Wemyss Bay for the Rothesay crossing . Meanwhile, the A83 experienced heavy traffic as some drivers opted to avoid ferry travel altogether.
