Hogmanay plans at risk as severe weather warning issued for Scotland

A severe weather warning is threatening to put a dampener on Hogmanay plans across Scotland as the nation braces for 48 hours of heavy rain.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain covering all of Scotland apart from Orkney and Shetland on 30 and 31 December, with “significant disruption” expected from the early hours of Monday.

Downpours may bring power cuts and flooding in the buildup to new year events, the forecaster said, although Hogmanay celebrations in some places may be spared because of uncertainty over which areas will be the worst affected.

Further weather warnings are likely to be put in place closer to the time, the Met Office said.

Meanwhile, air traffic restrictions were put in place at several UK airports because of fog, the country’s main air traffic control provider, Nats, said on Friday. Gatwick, the UK’s second-busiest airport, is among those affected, as well as Manchester, with lengthy delays for those expecting to travel.

A spokesperson for Nats said: “Due to widespread fog, temporary air traffic restrictions are in place at several airports across the UK today. Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety. We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.”

Parts of the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow on Friday were also entirely obscured from viewers by the dense fog, as was the Stoke City football match against Leeds United the previous day.

The fog is expected to hang over England and Wales until the new year, forecasters said.

Across most of Scotland, up to 70mm of rainfall is possible, and up to 140mm in some places, such as western Scotland. Snow is also a possibility in the north and over higher ground, and strong winds could bring further disruption, particularly on Tuesday.

Neil Armstrong, a Met Office chief forecaster, said: “From Sunday we will start to see some heavy rain affecting north-western parts of Scotland.

“After a brief respite, further rain and strong winds will be in place on Monday and Tuesday across Scotland, as another area of low pressure approaches. This may be accompanied by some heavy snowfall in the mountains and perhaps to lower elevations.”

From New Year’s Day the unsettled conditions and potentially disruptive wind, rain and snow could head south into England and Wales.

Many Scottish towns and cities hold public outdoor events for Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of the end of the year, despite the chance of being betrayed by the weather.

Alongside the famous Edinburgh street party, the band Texas are due to play a large outdoor concert in the city’s Princes Street Gardens on New Year’s Eve, with a musical set each side of the fireworks at midnight.

In 2003, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, the biggest in the world, was cancelled at the last minute due to gale-force winds, snow and rain, disappointing 100,000 revellers, many of whom were already gathered there.

Just over an hour before midnight, the entire event was called off, as was a New Year’s Eve gig by Erasure, because the strong winds had rendered the stage unsafe.

Reports at the time said City of Edinburgh council had failed to get a precise weather forecast in advance, which could have been bought for £17 from the Met Office. The following year, keen not to repeat the mistake, the council employed its own forecaster, and Hogmanay went ahead as planned.

However, in 2007, celebrations were cancelled once again in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling when public safety could not be ensured because of another large storm.