'Do not travel' warning from Scottish police forces on storm

Police have advised people in central Scotland not to travel, as severe winds start to batter the country. The Met Office has issued its highest warning, a red alert, and severe disruption across central and southern Scotland is expected during the day. Hundreds of schools have been shut and bridge and road closures are causing disruption. 90mph winds are expected. Parts of England and Northern Ireland are also being hit by extreme wind and rain. You can see regular updates on the BBC News live page, and find out more about school closures on our special page on the disruption in each council area. A gust of 89mph has been recorded in Tiree. The Ski area at Aonach Mor, just outside Fort William in the Highlands has reported a wind gust of 130 mph. Central Scotland Police Assistant Chief Constable Allan Moffat, speaking on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said: "The advice for motorists across the central belt of Scotland is to avoid travel, as the severe weather moves across the country from west to east, starting around noon on the west side of the country. "It is expected that the impact of the weather will affect the east side of the country from 2pm onwards. "This advice to avoid travel is not given lightly but is based on the clearest information yet from weather forecasters that there will be high winds with gusts of up to 90 miles per hour." The Forth Road Bridge was closed to all traffic, after a gust of 84mph was recorded, and is expected to stay shut until 18:00. The Scottish government's resilience committee has been meeting to assess the changing situation. Police are warning of the potential for serious travel disruption, with gusts of more than 80mph expected in places. Flooding in a number of areas has also caused problems, including road closures. Train operator ScotRail said it had been forced to cut services, with a temporary timetable coming into force, as Network Rail imposed a 50mph speed restriction. Commuters have also been advised to consider leaving work early because of the possibility of afternoon rush-hour disruption. The Erskine Bridge was also closed. The government said schools across west, central and southern Scotland should either not open or close early. Continue reading the main story Scotland's deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that, while decisions on closures were a matter for local authorities, the government issued advice on Wednesday night that schools in the west should consider not opening, and schools in the east should close by Thursday lunchtime. She said the resilience committee met five times on Wednesday, adding: "At the last of those meetings, we got advice from the Met Office which suggested the severe weather would hit earlier than anticipated." Ms Sturgeon said: "Local authorities should act today with safety as their paramount consideration. "These decisions are ultimately for local authorities, but we put very clear advice out to local authorities lat night based on the most up-to-date position." The strongest winds are expected from 1200 GMT in Glasgow and west-central areas and 1500 GMT in the east of the central belt, lasting through into the evening. The Met Office said there was significant risk of structural damage. Parents have been advised to check their local council websites for information on school closures. flooding The weather problems have resulted in flooding, as seen here on the A81 west of Blanefield Network Rail managing director for Scotland, David Simpson, said: "We will have over 350 engineers out on the network, working to keep the railway running. "However, the extreme nature of the conditions, and the impact they can have on our infrastructure, means that a speed restriction is necessary in the interests of safety." Police in the Highlands have warned drivers to prepare thoroughly for any journeys they have to make, while Tayside Police said fresh falls of snow and blizzard conditions were expected in places. Another casualty of the weather is the Christmas display in Glasgow's George Square. Glasgow Life has said the festive attractions will be closed all day on Thursday as a precaution. Extremely difficult conditions are forecast around Scotland's coasts. The Met Office is warning of south or southeast winds of force 6 to gale force 8, veering into the west or southwest and increasing severe gale 9 to violent storm 11. Elsewhere, heavy rain has led to flooding in the Windermere area of Cumbria. Local police said they had a number of reports of vehicles stuck in water around Windermere and Troutbeck. Sections of the A591 at Ambleside and Windermere were also closed because of the flooding, along with a section of the A592 at Troutbeck Bridge. And there were strong wind warnings for the M6 in Cumbria and the A66 in County Durham was closed to high-sided vehicles. Parts of Northern Ireland have also experienced disruption due to strong winds, with gales forecast to reach 80mph along the north coast. The Met Office have issued an amber weather warning for Thursday.