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A9 closed as Storm Babet causes transport chaos across Scotland





The A9 is closed in both directions at Dunkeld, an area subject to a red weather alert and warnings of a 'danger to life'. Picture: Daniel Forsyth.
The A9 is closed in both directions at Dunkeld, an area subject to a red weather alert and warnings of a 'danger to life'. Picture: Daniel Forsyth.

The A9 trunk road linking the Highlands and central belt in closed in both directions due to Storm Babet, Traffic Scotland has confirmed.

The road was closed in both directions near Dunkeld due to "adverse weather" in the early hours of Friday morning.

And in an update published minutes ago it warned motorists that there is "no timeline for it reopening yet".

The road closure sits on a section of the A9 between Perth and Dunkeld which is currently subject to the Met Office's highest severity weather warning. The rare red warning, which came into force at 6pm on Thursday and is expected to remain in place until midday on Friday, has warned people of a 'danger to life' as a result of exceptional rainfall.

Forecasters are predicting that more rain may fall in 24 hours than some areas experience in a month.

And the police has told people not to travel within or into the red warning area.

Elsewhere, in the Highlands further travel disruption is being experienced on roads, rail and at sea.

Ferries between Ullapool and Stornoway were again cancelled heading into Friday morning, with reviews expected to determine if any afternoon sailings will go ahead.

Rail routes continue to be badly affected. No trains are running north of Tain, the Kyle Line is experiencing weather-related cancellations due to a fallen tree near Stromeferry, and there's major disruption to journeys on the Inverness-Aberdeen and Highland Mainland as well.

On the roads, the Dornoch Bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles at the time of writing, with Traffic Scotland advising caution among motorists looking to cross the Kessock and Skye bridges.

Hundreds of residents in the Highlands were also without power on Friday morning after fresh electricity outages overnight.

Related: Further power cuts leave hundreds of Highland residents without electricity as Storm Babet rages on


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