Scottish bridge closures and warnings over high winds from Storm Boelo

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Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Bridges across Scotland are facing closures and warnings over high wind speeds and severe weather from Storm Boelo. The Queensferry Crossing, M90 and the Clackmannanshire Bridge A876 have been closed to high sided vehicles on Sunday, and a 30mph speed limit has been imposed on other traffic.

The Dornoch Bridge, near Tain on the A9, has been closed to all vehicles because of strong winds. open image in gallery Sandbags outside shop doorways in Largs after Storm Boelo passed through the area (Jane Barlow/PA) ( PA Wire ) Kessock Bridge, near Inverness , has also been closed to high vehicles. Tay Bridge, near Dundee on the A92, was open to cars only on Sunday afternoon. Storm Boelo brought 80mph gusts and travel disruption to much of Scotland this weekend, shortly after Storm Austen delivered heavy rain to many areas on Friday.

The Met Office has warned of potential injuries and danger to life from flying debris as well as a chance of damage to buildings, power cuts and travel disruption. The amber wind warning came into force at 9pm on Saturday and will remain in place until 9pm on Sunday, with only Orkney remaining under a yellow warning. Storm Boelo brought gusts in excess of 80mph across Argyll, with wind speeds of 85mph recorded in Machrahanish.

Left out here: Drops what it reported before

The article gives power cuts only as a Met Office warning of what might happen. It leaves out that The Independent had reported hours earlier that more than 30,000 homes across Scotland were already without power. A reader may think the storm's harm so far was limited to closed roads and bridges.

How we know

The Independent wrote earlier“More than 30,000 homes across Scotland are experiencing power outages after Storm Boelo battered the country overnight.”More than 30,000 homes across Scotland without power amid Storm Boelo (opens in a new tab)

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What we found (2)

The Independent reports bridge closures, 80mph gusts, heavy rain and Met Office warnings during Storm Boelo, but never says that warming is making extreme rainfall like this more frequent or more severe. It also presents power cuts only as a Met Office risk, when its own earlier report that day said more than 30,000 homes had already lost power.

Leaves out the climate link
Minor
“Storm Austen delivered heavy rain to many areas on Friday”
Why this matters
The Independent reports heavy rain from one storm, then 80mph gusts from a second named storm days later. It treats the back-to-back storms as weather events and nothing more.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away thinking these storms and their heavy rain are simply bad weather, with no link to a warming climate.
The context
Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more intense. The article has no word on climate change or warming anywhere, not even one short line.
How we know
- On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
- Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.
- Elsewhere in the article“Sandbags outside shop doorways in Largs”
Show it in the article
Drops what it reported before
Minor
What is missing
The article gives power cuts only as a Met Office warning of what might happen. It leaves out that The Independent had reported hours earlier that more than 30,000 homes across Scotland were already without power. A reader may think the storm's harm so far was limited to closed roads and bridges.
How we know
- The Independent wrote earlier“More than 30,000 homes across Scotland are experiencing power outages after Storm Boelo battered the country overnight.”More than 30,000 homes across Scotland without power amid Storm Boelo (opens in a new tab)
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Scottish bridge closures and warnings over high winds from Storm Boelo

Leaves out the climate link

Drops what it reported before

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