Scotland's railway lines and airports facing shutdown as heavy snow brings red alert
BA and Flybe cancel all Anglo-Scottish flights for the rest of Wednesday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rail travel is closing down across Scotland and across the border to England as a result of heavy snowfalls.
After the Met Office issued a red warning for the central belt of Scotland, ScotRail tweeted: “In areas where the RED weather warning applies, customers should head for home NOW. There will be NO train services in the RED weather warning area tonight, or first thing tomorrow morning.”
The Met Office warning runs until 10am on Thursday morning.
“As a result of the Met Office warning, services in the RED area will begin to wind down this afternoon in the best interests of our customers and staff,” said ScotRail. “Safety is central to this decision.”
The line south from Glasgow to Carlisle, over the 1,000ft-plus Beattock Summit, is closed. Caledonian Sleeper, which runs overnight trains from Fort William, Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow to London, has cancelled all services tonight.
Virgin Trains East Coast has removed all ticket restrictions up to and including Friday 2 March. Passengers with any kind of ticket for the train journey with the operator on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday can use it on any day.
Other train operators have put similar policies in place.
Almost all flights in and out of Glasgow were cancelled as weather in central Scotland deteriorated. One exception was the Emirates flight from Dubai flew multiple circuits over the Borders for an hour before finally touching down at 1pm.
Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports also saw multiple cancellations.
British Airways and Flybe grounded Anglo-Scottish flights for the rest of the day, with BA saying: “All British Airways return flights between London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London City and airports in Scotland will be cancelled throughout Wednesday afternoon and evening.”
Passengers booked on any short-haul flight to or from BA’s London airports between now and Friday can rebook without charge for a different travel date up to and including 21 March.
Flybe said: “Those requiring a hotel overnight should make their own arrangements and can apply for a refund of any reasonable expenses incurred in respect of accommodation, meals and refreshments (excluding alcohol). Remember to keep full receipts for everything.”
The airline is offering passengers the chance rebook on a different flight to the same, or similar, destination, for travel within the next week at no charge to the same or a similar destination, if seats are still are available.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments