Meeting of the Parliament [Draft] Business until 15:43

Meeting date: Thursday, January 23, 2025

Official Report 901KB pdf

Red Weather Warning

I am grateful to the Presiding Officer for the opportunity to make my remarks to the Parliament before First Minister’s question time.

This morning, the Met Office issued a very rare red weather warning for storm Éowyn tomorrow. The warning covers parts of Dumfries and Galloway and of the Scottish Borders, all of Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders, the Forth Valley and southern parts of Fife. The red weather warning is expected to begin at 10 am tomorrow and to last until 5 pm tomorrow, while a wider amber warning for high winds across the whole country and a yellow warning for snow in some parts of Scotland still remain in place. The storm could bring winds of up to 100 mph.

The Met Office’s advice is clear that the potential impacts include danger to life, structural damage to property, and transport and power disruptions. We have to be clear that people should not travel, and Police Scotland will issue a formal do not travel advisory notice shortly. Councils will make decisions today about school closures.

The Government is ready to respond. Our resilience and emergency system—the Scottish Government resilience room or SGORR—was activated this morning to co-ordinate help and to support Scotland’s front-line responders, including the police, fire services and the ambulance service. I will chair a meeting of the resilience room shortly after First Minister’s questions, and further advice will be issued to the public.

Red weather warnings such as this are very rare. Our message is simple: please follow the advice from the Met Office and the police, take this seriously, and stay safe.