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A9 drivers on Black Isle issued forest warning ahead of felling north of Tore





Tall trees, such as those in this file picture supplied by FLS, can be particularly at risk in storm conditions.
Tall trees, such as those in this file picture supplied by FLS, can be particularly at risk in storm conditions.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is advising motorists heading north on the A9 to plan for short delays in their journey as felling operations at roadside get under way.

The warning comes ahead of high winds expected to batter the country as Storm Éowyn hits on Friday.

Traffic control measures have been put in place half a mile north of Tore as FLS works to remove mature trees from the south side of the road.

The trees are standing roughly 40 metres tall “and are at serious risk of falling victim to high winds and storm damage”. If blown over they would easily reach the roadway and could, in the worst case, cause a major accident, according to FLS.

Malcolm McDougall, FLS’ operations manager, said: “Dealing with potential issues like this before an incident occurs has always been part of our focus but the increasing frequency of storm winds has made this part of our job an even higher priority that it was before.

“Storm Eowyn’s approach this coming weekend is a sobering reminder of how important this element of our work is. I would stress, though, that the predicted wind speeds of 60-70mph are below the 90mph threshold where we would expect significant damage to forests.

“While we carry out the felling, short delays will be necessary for public safety but we hope to have the operations over as quickly as possible.

“We would like to thank road users in advance for their understanding. We apologise for any inconvenience that might be caused.”

There will be short 10-15 minute road closures as individual trees are felled and cleared from the work area. FLS anticipates that the work will be completed and traffic management lifted by Friday, January 31.

In a separate alert, FLS today urged people to steer clear of forests amidst a red weather warning in some parts of the country.

FLS is asking people to avoid visiting any of its forests in storm conditions. Picture: FLS
FLS is asking people to avoid visiting any of its forests in storm conditions. Picture: FLS

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is asking people to avoid forests it manages particularly across the central belt and parts of south west Scotland along with exposed western coastal areas this weekend as a rare Met Office red storm warning is in effect.

The warning for Storm Éowyn is for peak gusts of 80-90mph to impact widely in areas covered by the red alert from 10am to 5pm on Friday with amber and yellow alerts across the rest of Scotland.

A further yellow weather warning is in place for parts of Scotland on Saturday.


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