Storm Éowyn
The Met Office downgraded the Red Weather Warning for wind to Amber at 5pm. This is expected to be in place until midnight, however a Yellow Weather warning for snow and ice will then run until 11am on Saturday morning. As a result, it is likely there will continue to be disruption from weather conditions (wind, snow and ice).
The storm has caused severe disruption and damage across the city. Our teams have dealt with a high volume of incidents and recovery operations have begun. Incidents continue to be prioritised according to the risk to public safety.
We have more information and advice related to severe weather.
Schools, nurseries and early years settings
There have been reports of minor damage to Drummond High School and Echline Primary. Our estates team is working closely with the schools to assess damage and carry out any repairs. Any impact on opening for Monday will be communicated directly with parents over the weekend.
At this stage, we expect the remaining schools, nurseries and early years settings to reopen as normal on Monday, and we'll be checking these over the weekend. Schools will contact parents directly if there are any issues.
Damage to buildings
Right now we’re not aware of any further damage to council buildings, but inspections will continue over the weekend.
We’ve received a lot of reports of damage to private buildings across the city. Our Shared Repairs team will prioritise inspections of buildings where there is thought to be a danger to the public.
Fallen trees
We’ve responded to a significant number of reports of large fallen trees. We’re prioritising any reports that pose a potential danger to the public or are blocking roads and paths. Those not posing any immediate risk will be dealt with next week.
If you're concerned about fallen or dangerous, overhanging branches or trees, please report them to our Forestry service immediately. Contact us @edinhelp.
Roads
A yellow weather warning for ice and snow will be in place from midnight until 10am tomorrow morning.
Crews will begin gritting priority routes this evening.
There may be some road closures and blockages due to fallen trees and debris – and we are advising people to avoid driving unless it is essential.
All of our work sites were made safe in advance of the storm and contactors were asked to maintain their sites.
Travel and transport
Latest updates from our travel partners:
- Lothian Buses will slowly return to service where possible from 6pm once checks for debris/low hanging trees have been completed. Drivers are being advised to proceed with extreme caution.
- Edinburgh Trams will not resume services today.
For travel updates check @edintravel and @TrafficScotland on X (Twitter) as well as your travel provider.
Bin collections and debris
Bin collection services will resume on Sunday, but we expect there to be delays. Residents who were due a collection on Friday should put their bins, boxes and Christmas trees out on Saturday evening and we will collect them over Sunday and Monday. There may be delays to these collections, but we’ll get to them as soon as we can.
We’re aware that some communal bins have been blown over or moved and crews will get to them (and other debris) as soon as possible.
Contact centre
Our contact centre has been extremely busy. Please report non-emergency issues via the relevant online forms on our website or via social media wherever possible to help keep phonelines free.
Homelessness
Support for homelessness continues and we have offered accommodation to everyone who has needed it.
Anyone who needs to present as homeless or needs emergency temporary accommodation over the weekend should contact us by phone on 0131 529 7036 or 0131 200 2000.
Waste and recycling
Cleansing crews will work with other teams to clear debris from streets over the weekend and potentially into next week.
Recycling centres – any bookings for recycling centres will be rescheduled
Special uplift services – residents who have booked a collection for today (Friday) should not put the items out for collection. Appointments will be rebooked.
Council parks and buildings
Please check with our venues before you travel if you plan to visit any of them over the weekend.
Lauriston Castle and Princes Street Gardens will remain closed on Saturday 25 January.
Contacting us
You can report any issues online at @edinhelp
Please only phone if it's an emergency as our phone lines will be busy.
Emergency service line
0131 200 2000.
Emergency social care service
0800 731 6969 - free phone.
