An elderly man has died after a car he was travelling in crashed into a fallen tree in Fife, Scotland. The 84-year-old was a front seat passenger in the car when it crashed. The tree was brought down by Storm Isha in Grangemouth on Sunday (January 21).
Other people in the car were unharmed, according to Police Scotland. The Hyundai car collided with the fallen tree on the A905, Beancross Road.
Inspector Andrew Thomson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died and all those involved in the collision. We continue to offer them support as our enquiries progress.
“I’d be keen to speak to anyone who saw what happened or was on the A905 around 11.45pm yesterday (Sunday).
“I’d also request anyone with dashcam footage of Beancross Road around that time, please review your footage and bring anything of significance to our attention.”
The road was closed while investigations were carried out and reopened at about 6am on Monday (January 22). Officers are trying to find out the full circumstances around what happened, with witnesses urged to contact 101.
Amber and red warnings were in force at Storm Isha’s height with a yellow alert warning of gusts of up to 80mph in force until midday on Monday.
Police have urged motorists to exercise caution when travelling as conditions may be hazardous.
Storm-force winds damaged overhead power lines in the north of Scotland, affecting supplies for more than 20,000 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution customers in the area.
SSEN said as of 8.45am on Monday supplies had been successfully restored to more than 17,500 customers, with 10,500 properties currently off supply.
It said that while teams are working hard to reconnect customers, full restoration is not expected on Monday because of the widespread damage, and challenges reaching faults because of fallen trees and road closures.
SP Energy Networks customers were also affected and the company said engineers were working round the clock to restore power.”
A spokesperson said on Monday: “The storm has affected 53,881 of our customers across central and southern Scotland, with power restored to 42,151 customers so far.
“11,730 customers are currently without power and our engineers are doing everything they can – in challenging conditions – to restore supplies quicky and safely.
Rishi Sunak has said the Government is working hard with authorities to restore power to homes remaining without it.
A rare red “danger to life” warning of wind was in force in northern Scotland until 5am on Monday, while an amber warning of wind for the whole country was lifted at 6am.
A Met Office yellow warning of strong wind remains in force until midday, with warnings of gusts of 50-60mph inland and up 80mph in exposed coastal areas.
Transport Scotland said a gust of 107mph was recorded on the Tay Bridge and the Met Office said there was one of 84mph at Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire.
ScotRail suspended services at 7pm on Sunday and said there would be no services on Monday morning following the storm.
The company said each route will have to undergo a safety inspection on Monday, meaning it will be later on before any trains can run.
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.”
Speaking later on BBC Radio Scotland, he said it will be late morning and into the afternoon before routes start to reopen.
Meanwhile, the next storm of the season has been named by the Irish forecaster Met Eireann.
Storm Jocelyn is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the UK on Tuesday and into Wednesday.
