ScotRail has suspended all trains until after the morning rush-hour as travel disruption caused by Storm Isha continues.
A red “danger to life” warning of wind was in place in northern Scotland until 5am on Monday, while an amber warning of wind for the whole country was lifted at 6am. A yellow warning of strong wind remains in force until midday.
All ScotRail services were suspended at 7pm on Sunday alongside an announcement that there would be no rush-hour services on Monday morning.
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ScotRail said the delay to restarting services is because each route must undergo a safety inspection on Monday.
ScotRail customer operations director Phil Campbell said: “We know the impact that the withdrawal of train services will have on customers, but our first priority is always to ensure the safety of staff and passengers – and this is a necessary step to ensure everyone’s safety during the severe weather.
“Our colleagues at Network Rail Scotland will be working flat out through the night and into the morning to carry out safety checks, and assess what repairs are required to reopen the railway.
“However, customers will be unable to travel early Monday morning, as trains will not be able to operate until the infrastructure has been made safe.”
Speaking later on BBC Radio Scotland, he said: “It will be late morning and into the afternoon before we see routes reopening.”
Network Rail Scotland said it has at least 10 trees to remove from the railway between Garrowhill and Easterhouse on Monday morning, and there has been “significant damage” to overhead wires, which need to be repaired.
Elsewhere, the remains of a garden shed has been found on the line at Bellgrove station in Glasgow.
Police Scotland tweeted: “Due to the amount of debris caused by #StormIsha, short-notice road closures, localised flooding and other issues are expected, in addition to the high winds.
“As a result, the police advice is to avoid travel – travel only if absolutely necessary.”
Ashleigh Robson, head of transport resilience at Transport Scotland, said: “The advice from Police Scotland is to expect a high risk of disruption across Scotland.
“Transport Scotland and our partners have well-established plans in place and our resilience operation is in full effect, feeding into wider Scottish Government resilience structures – but disruption across the network is anticipated.”
A further yellow warning for wind for Scotland, Northern Ireland, north Wales and northern England is active from 4pm on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday. The Met Office said the highest recorded wind speed during Storm Isha was 99mph at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland.
