Road bridge shut, all Fife schools to close at lunchtime today

Published 8 Dec 2011 08:30 10 Comments

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ALL Fife schools will close at lunctime today (Thursday) due to the severe weather warnings for the area.

The Forth Road Bridge has been shut in both directions from around 10.40am today due to the very strong winds, as has the Tay Bridge.

These closures are currently causing significant disruption and Fife police are advising people to postpone their journey wherever possible or make alternative arrangements

The Kincardine and Clackmannanshire bridges remain open at this time, but are closed to high-sided vehicles.

Several roads in West Fife have been affected by falling trees, and a driver at the Queensferry Hotel in North Queensferry had a lucky escape after a large tree fell onto the car in the car park. The driver was unhurt but left shaken by the incident, which occurred around 10.45am.

Stagecoach are currently removing all double-decker buses from service, after one came off the road today while en route to Dunfermline depot due to the adverse weather. The vehicle was not in service and the driver was uninjured.

Stagecoach have advised that all routes are suffering from delays. Further delays are expected later in the day, with some routes potentially cancelled. Services in Inverkeithing and Rosyth are currently delayed due to heavy traffic approaching the Forth Road Bridge.

The bus operators added that the Valleyfield bypass is closed due to fallen tree, with buses diverting via Culross in both directions. A fallen tree has also closed the main access road to North Queensferry, as a result service 89 will terminate at Ferrytoll under further notice.

Service 79 to Kelty, is currently diverting away from Kelty Cross due to falling debris, and services 17, 17b, 18 and 56 are currently being diverted via North Road, Kelty, due to a fallen chimney in Main Street, Kelty.

NHS Fife is advising patients to travel to appointments today only if they feel it is safe to do so. Services across hospitals are running as normal, but patients with appointments today are advised to follow all travel advice. Anyone who does attend an appointment will be seen.

Members of the public who decide not to attend should advise the department they have an appointment with, using the phone number on their appointment letter. Appointments will then be rescheduled.

Commuters are likely to face severe delays and disruption this afternoon as the result of anticipated high winds gusting to more than 75 mph across the area.

The Met Office has issued a 'Red' warning - the highest level warning which is typically only issued once or twice a year - with the peak danger times between 3pm and 6pm.

The Scottish Government has advised that a sensible option would be for people to leave work early, or work from home if possible, in order to reduce the risk of delays.

In addition, the Met Office has warned that during this afternoon showers will turn back to snow over higher ground at first but down to lower levels during the evening.

Head of road policing, Chief Inspector Davie McCulloch, said, "Travel conditions are forecast to be very difficult on Thursday afternoon and I would urge all drivers to take extra care and only travel if necessary.

"Given that winds are expected to be between 75 mph and possibly even up to 90 mph, there is a very high risk that both the Forth and Tay Road bridges will be forced to close, with a consequent impact of congestion on all main routes such as the A985 as traffic diverts across the Kincardine Bridge.

"Drivers should prepare to be delayed and are advised to ensure they have sufficient fuel for an extended journey, spare clothing and a fully-charged mobile phone to hand."

Before setting out, drivers may find it useful to check websites such as the

Met Office at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_warnings.html ;

Transport Scotland at http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/news/severe-weather-warning and

Fife Constabulary at http://www.fife.police.uk

Share your stories of disruption caused by the weather - leave a comment below.

This article appeared in Dunfermline Press 08 Dec 11

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

NEILYJ
90 posts
Dec 8, 09:15
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Well gid man, hame at lunch time n straight oot on the sauce, braw min

Recommend? Yes 15 No 5
ningin
84 posts
Dec 8, 12:06
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keep the bottle close tae yer lips neily ....ye dont wanna lose hauf yer swally in the high winds

Recommend? Yes 11 No 3
NEILYJ
90 posts
Dec 8, 12:27
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aye totally man hahahahahahahahaha pure windy ken

Recommend? Yes 10 No 3
Geedoc
23 posts
Dec 8, 12:57
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So if you read this you wouldn't travel in that direction. I know that there is radion,but. Would it have stretched the wit of some "responsible" person to consider signage a wee bit back from the bridge....like Rosyth...Dalgety Bay or Dunfermline ????

I do of course use the word responsible in the broadest sense

Recommend? Yes 0 No 5
beaker
80 posts
Dec 8, 14:03
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folks are gettin right saft nowadays,, we only got away from school after a nuclear blast, if you were lucky. far less than gettin away from your work .

Recommend? Yes 5 No 1
******
Dec 8, 15:08
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Dec 8, 15:23
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BobTheBuilder
111 posts
Dec 8, 17:11
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However bizarre the closure of schools may appear to be, the undisputable fact is that the removal of school-related traffic helps get other traffic moving, and in today's case, off the road too. But, I do agree, in times past folk would just get on with it, before the compo-brigade screwed it all up claiming damages because their kid got a chill in their eye from the wind, or has been scarred for life because some leaves were blowing towards them. Today has been a write-off because the kids have been as high as kites knowing they were going home early!

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******
Dec 8, 20:31
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SmarmyGit
316 posts
Dec 8, 21:54
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Seeing as a school bus was blown over today (thankfully with no kids in) and the bridge was hit by gusts in excess of 80 odd miles an hour and fully laden lorries were being blown over i think it was a wee tad past the 'a bit windy' but we'll let the whingers crack on and have their fun about ' the bridge being shut and the schools being shut and the naughty trees falling over' etc etc etc

Thing is if a school bus was blown over with kids IN it the same lot of whingers would be out in force giving it 'blah blah, shouldn't have been out in that, should have heeded the police warnings etc blah blah'

It was inconvenient, it was a tad windy and we're past it, no kids hurt, perhaps a few less trees and everything will be back to relative normality the morra, saying that the same load of whingers will be moaning about 'its taking soooo long to get the trees moved, where is the council when i need them moan, moan moan'........

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******
Dec 9, 13:25
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Dec 9, 13:53
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Dec 9, 16:08
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Dec 9, 16:19
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Dec 9, 18:44
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Blackadder
257 posts
Dec 9, 18:54
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triskell kills forums.

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Dec 9, 20:50
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DrewCarnegie
65 posts
Dec 11, 09:10
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Hurricane Bawbag was not as bad as made out.

However if the schools were left open and it had been worse Fife Council would of been ridiculed.

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******
Dec 11, 13:57
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Dec 11, 14:24
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Dec 11, 16:54
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Dec 11, 17:08
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Dec 11, 17:30
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Dec 11, 23:55
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mikeintheknow
98 posts
Dec 12, 00:04
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Did you know anyone that went to do a 12 hour shift in Edinburgh from 8am - 8pm would have mist all this chaos and would have been able to get there and back without any trouble.

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Dec 14, 00:36
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Dec 15, 00:26
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