Storm Floris leads to Edinburgh flight aborting two landings and turning around
Edinburgh Airport was sadly unable to escape the disruption with a flight taking off from Gatwick having two bites of the cherry when attempting to land only to be forced to return London.
easyJet flight U2857 departed at 1.20pm as the storm was at its most ferocious.
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It was due to touch down in Edinburgh at 3pm but after struggling with the strong winds, it turned around and landed back in the English capital at 3.49pm on Monday August 4.
Several bridges were closed to high vehicles across Edinburgh and the Lothians with trains also experiencing chaos due to objects flying onto overhead lines in the west.
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Trains from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh and Stirling had to be halted after a polythene sheet being lodge on the lines.
LNER made an early decision to stop their services from travelling north of Newcastle throughout Monday 4.
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Scotrail cautioned services would continue to see disruption into Tuesday August 5 where Storm Floris is expected to die down and make way for calmer conditions.
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Crews in Scotland ‘working tirelessly' to rectify storm damage to railway lines
Teams are 'working tirelessly' to rectify the damage to railway infrastructure brought by Storm Floris, Network Rail said. Ross Moran, rail director for Network Rail in Scotland, said storms such as Floris can have 'devastating' effects on train lines. On Tuesday, he told the PA news agency: 'The storm has caused really unprecedented challenges and damage to the railway infrastructure. 'The storm hit Scotland at around 11am on Monday. It was sustained and frequent until about 7.30pm. 'It has caused damage to overhead lines, there's been more than 100 trees, as well as sheds and trampolines, blown on to the railway infrastructure.' Mr Moran said that storms such as Floris are unusual during the summer and more common in the winter months. He added: 'What that means is we've got trees in full bloom, and therefore they're heavier and when you get wind speeds of over 100mph, the impact can be devastating to the railway infrastructure.' Mr Moran said communities in Inverness, Aberdeen and the far north of Scotland have experienced the worst disruption to railway lines, but added that clean-up crews and engineers are making 'good progress', and thanked passengers for their patience while they seek to fix any damage to the lines. He said: 'We are making good progress. At the moment there are still power issues, there are significant issues, but our engineers and track teams are out there working tirelessly, and we expect that we'll continue to make good progress, and we will be able to update passengers as the day progresses.' Mr Moran added: 'We are so grateful to the patience of passengers while we've worked through this difficult period, but do take our assurances that we're doing everything we can to get the lines back over and again as soon as possible.' Engineers are working to restore power to a total of around 22,000 properties in the north and north-east of Scotland. Work is also under way to clear trees from several railway lines which were blocked by the storm. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to 50,000 properties since the onset of the high winds. The company said: 'Now the winds have died down and moved into the North Sea, it's become safer for our field teams to get to faults on the network, although strong gusts are still forecast for today and we'll be monitoring the forecast closely. 'Our teams worked for as long as the light permitted last night and were deployed again early this morning, with the support of helicopters to assess the network from above. 'This has been a particularly damaging storm and we'll be working hard to reconnect customers as safely and quickly as we can – but it will take time.' The company, which is the network operator for northern Scotland, said it had organised meal provision in some of the affected communities. ScotRail said some routes in the north are still facing disruption. On Monday night, the Scottish Government's resilience room held an emergency meeting to help decide an appropriate response to the storm, which has also led to delays in exam results being delivered to pupils in some island communities. Ministers including Angela Constance were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, Sepa and transport and utilities companies. Trunk road companies are continuing to remove fallen trees and debris from roads. With winds of up to 90mph in some parts of the country, a significant clear-up job will be required to inspect lines and carry out repair work before it is safe to restore a full service. More wet and windy weather is forecast for late on Wednesday and Thursday, but no Met Office weather warnings are in place for Tuesday. ScotRail is urging customers to check their journey via the app, website or JourneyCheck before they travel. Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: 'While the system later this week won't carry as many impacts as Storm Floris, a further period of unseasonable wet and windy weather is on the way late on Wednesday and into Thursday for those in north-western parts of the UK. 'An area of low pressure from the west will bring some strong winds, especially for those in western parts of Scotland. 'Gusts over 50mph are possible for a time. Some heavy rain will also accompany the strong winds, with up to 30mm possible.'
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Hot spells could hit UK with above-average temperatures after Storm Floris
The UK could see hot spells and increasing temperatures just days after the country was battered by Storm Floris, the Met Office said. The forecaster said the mercury would likely be above average from 19 August towards the start of September, as the weather becomes drier and settled from the middle of the month. It comes after Storm Floris, the sixth named storm of the season, brought chaos for tens of thousands of people on Monday as trains, flights and ferries were disrupted. 'Above-average temperatures overall seem most likely, with the potential for hot spells to develop, especially in the East and South,' a Met Office spokesperson said. 'Although dry weather is likely to dominate, periods of rain or showers and thunderstorms may develop at times, these perhaps more likely later in the period.' On Monday, tens of thousands of households were left without electricity after Storm Floris wreaked havoc on power lines. Engineers worked to restore power to around 22,000 properties in the north and north-east of Scotland on Tuesday morning after Storm Floris hit the country with high winds. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to 50,000 properties since the onset of the storm, which is called "the most damaging summer storm in recent memory". The company, which is the network operator for northern Scotland, said it had organised meal provision in some of the affected communities. Winds of more than 100mph were recorded on Monday as the storm swept across the country. Gusts of 134mph were recorded on the summit of Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands. On lower ground, gusts of 82mph at Wick airport in Scotland were recorded, with speeds in excess of 70mph in other parts of the country, the Met Office said. Work is also underway to clear trees from several railway lines, with the government adding there were 119 incidents on the rail network caused by Storm Floris, including 75 tree-related ones. On Tuesday morning, Network Rail said it had reopened 30 out of 34 routes in Scotland, but ScotRail is urging customers to check their journey via the app, website or JourneyCheck before they travel. Half the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry routes in western Scotland are still affected by Storm Floris. Sailings between Oban, Colonsay and Islay are cancelled for the day.
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A plane coming in to land was forced to U-turn and fly 400 miles back to where it started in the middle of a major storm
An easyJet flight was close to landing in northern Scotland before diverting all the way back to where it came from when a major storm stopped it from touching down. Flight 621 took off from London Luton Airport an hour and a half behind schedule on Monday, due largely to Storm Floris, a major weather event hitting the UK this week. The delays would only get worse for passengers. After about an hour, the Airbus A319 reached its intended destination of Inverness. However, while Flightradar24 shows the plane descended as low as 2,000 feet, it was unable to land. Instead, it flew the roughly 400 miles back to Luton, becoming a so-called flight to nowhere. It touched down around 2:25 p.m., landing back where it started after two hours and 800 miles of travel. An easyJet spokesperson said Flight 621 was required to return to London Luton, "due to strong winds at Inverness." "As the forecast was not set to improve, unfortunately, the flight was unable to operate," they added. Storm Floris caused huge disruption across the UK on Monday. The Met Office warned of wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph, reaching 90mph on some exposed coasts and hills. More than 70,000 homes were left without power, according to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. The network called Floris "the most damaging summer storm in recent memory." The UK's train operator was also working to clear routes, with 119 incidents reported on train lines across Scotland on Monday. Cirium, the aviation analytics firm, reported that 134 flights were canceled as of 3 p.m. on Monday. Belfast and Aberdeen were the worst-affected airports, it added. "We are doing all we can to minimise the impact of the weather for our customers, providing options to rebooking or a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and meals for those who require them," the easyJet spokesperson added. "The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused by the weather."
