Storm Amy leaves trail of damage after sweeping into region

Heavy rain and strong wind gusts from Storm Amy brought widespread damage to Dumfries and Galloway over the weekend.

- SHARON LIPTROTT

Strong gusts A fallen tree down in Hardthorn Road in Dumfries over the weekend

A Met Office yellow weather alert expired at midnight on Saturday but a cleanup operation was still under way yesterday after the region was hit with falling trees closing many roads, as well as power disruption and outages, and widespread flooding.

Police Scotland dealt with road accidents; the Whitesands in Dumfries was also heavily flooded and ferry crossings between Cairnryan and Northern Ireland had to be cancelled which activated Operation Overflow at noon on Friday with Transport Scotland, offering stranded HGV drivers the chance to park up on part of the former airfield at Castle Kennedy to prevent significant congestion and potential road safety issues for Stranraer, A75, A751 and A77.

Some schools closed early on Friday as Storm Amy - the first named storm of the season - took its toll, and Dumfries and Galloway Council said it hoped all children could return to school and early learning settings as normal yesterday.

Yesterday, the local authority was still dealing with the storm's impact on infrastructure.