Storm Babet weather warning

The current Met Office alert (as of 5pm Wed 18 Oct) for wind is in place from 3am on Thursday 19 October until 12pm Friday 20 October and for rain from 6am on Thursday until 6pm on Friday.

Potential impacts include:

• There is a chance that some roads and bridges could close, leading to longer journey times, together with possible cancellations to bus, rail, air and ferry services
• There is a small chance that injuries could occur due to either flying debris inland, or due to large waves around coasts
• There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs
• Dangerous driving conditions because of spray and flooded roads
• Extensive flooding to homes and businesses is possible, which could lead to collapsed or damaged buildings or structures
• Fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life
• There is a chance that communities in flooded areas could be completely cut off, perhaps for several days
• Power and other essential services, such as gas, water or mobile phone service, may be lost

A prolonged period of strong easterly winds, peaking through Thursday and early Friday, (and coupled with heavy and persistent rain across eastern Scotland in particular), brings the potential for disruption, especially to travel. Gusts to 40-50 mph can be expected quite widely within the warning area. Some locations over and to the lee of mountains across northwest Scotland could encounter sudden gusts in excess of 70-80 mph for a time. Large waves will be an additional hazard around North Sea coasts.

It is increasingly likely that a period of disruptive, heavy and prolonged rainfall will affect parts of eastern Scotland. The heaviest rainfall is more likely to occur over Angus and southeast Grampian, although even lower lying areas could see unusually heavy rainfall during this period. Widely 70-100 mm of rain is likely, but some upland areas may see as much as 150-200 mm of rain through this period. Very strong southeasterly winds are likely to accompany heavy rainfall which may exacerbate impacts.

Please note there is a rare red alert in place for parts of Aberdeenshire and there is a do not travel warning in place for the region.

Police Scotland have also issued a travel warnings to avoid travel on roads in areas affected by the red weather warning and for high risk of disruption for those areas affected by the amber weather warnings. 

Flooding

There are currently no flood alerts out for Moray but check online regularly for any changes.

While Moray Council has an obligation to maintain roads and undertake certain emergency responses in the event of flooding, this does not extend to private property – residents and businesses should take steps to protect their own property from flooding. 

If you live in a known flooding area, make sure you sign-up for alerts from SEPA call the Floodline on 0345 9881188 or visit http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/   

Advice is to stay away from areas at risk of flooding and wave overtopping – cliff edges, coastlines and harbour walls could be affected.

Roads/Trees 

The severity of the winds is likely to have a significant impact on trees and woodland, particularly in areas weakened by previous storms. While the Open Spaces teams will respond to calls about fallen trees, if it’s too dangerous – particularly at night – we’ll close roads until it’s safe to remove them. 

Please remember, fallen, overhanging and hung-up trees represent a serious danger to safety and affected areas should be avoided at all times. 

To report fallen trees on the roads network call 0300 123 4565 (during office hours). 

Useful links 

Flooding advice here: https://floodlinescotland.org.uk/your-home/  

Keep an eye on the forecast at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2023-10-18

To get all the latest Council updates including impacted waste collection services, facility closures, road disruption etc check the service status portal regularly: https://secure.moray.gov.uk/mcalerts/portal/servicestatus.aspx

Updates will be shared on council social media channels @moraycouncil from Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, Met Office and SSEN.

Information on trees and felling can be found here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_86975.html

Handy phone numbers:  

Power outages – via SSEN on 105 or download the Powertrack App: https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk/powertrack

Non-urgent medical issues – via NHS on 111 

Council housing repairs – 0300 123 4566   

Council emergency out of hours - 03457 565656