Woman struck by masonry in high winds as Storm Hector hits UK
A woman is being treated in hospital after she was struck by a roof slate as high winds caused by Storm Hector sweep the UK.
Emergency services were called to Dalry Road in Edinburgh at around 9.40am on Thursday and the woman, who is in her forties, was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment.
It comes amid a yellow “be aware” weather warning covering Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.
Fallen trees have caused widespread travel problems and ScotRail said “chainsaw gangs” and overhead line teams have been deployed across the rail network to remove trees and branches that caused delays and cancellations to services.
Areas affected north of the Border include Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Partick and North Lanarkshire.
In England, police closed the Tees flyover to high-sided vehicles and the Shields Ferry across the Tyne was not operating.
A gust of 74mph in Orlock Head, Northern Ireland, broke the June record for a gust in Ireland, the Met Office said.
The storm brought heavy rain to parts of Cumbria with 3.2in (80mm) falling, and 5.1in (130mm) in the Isle of Skye over the past 24 hours.
The Tay Bridge was closed to all traffic as winds picked up while the Forth Road Bridge was closed to double-decker buses.
An outdoor mass planned at Falkirk Stadium to mark 100 years of Catholic education in Scotland was cancelled because of the weather.
Barbara Coupar, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, said: “It is with great regret that, due to storm Hector and the exceptional winds, for health and safety reasons the National Schools Mass at Falkirk stadium has been cancelled.
“We would ask schools currently travelling to return to school. Do not make your way to the stadium.”
The wind did give a boost to Britain’s electricity supply with official figures showing that in the 30 minutes before 10am on Thursday, 34.5% of Britain’s electricity came from wind – far higher than the 6% recorded on previous, calmer days.
A much weaker weather front is due to follow after Storm Hector passes out into the North Sea.
The outlook for Saturday is similar, with the possibility of thunder while Sunday is expected to be the best day of the weekend, being drier with hazy sunshine.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: “The wettest weather will be out of the way but there will be some blustery showers following and with the yellow warning in force disruption is possible.
“Further spells of rain will push their way into Scotland through the night before clearer skies open out by the start of Friday.”