Weather threshold

Western Isles have “higher threshold” for bad weather 9/4/14

A fatal accident inquiry into the death of health worker Lorna Macdonald - who died after her vehicle crashed into a loch in severe weather - heard that, despite a forecast of 70mph winds, the Met Office only issued a Yellow - Be Aware alert, indicating a low risk of disruption, for the Western Isles for the day of Lorna‘s death.

Despite usual practice, health staff were never advised of it but “essential information” from similar weather advice had been e-mailed to all employees the previous day, said the health board’s emergency planning officer, Thomas Laverty.

Mr Laverty told procurator fiscal David Teale the Met Office considered the weather threshold for the Outer Hebrides to be higher because “we are remote and rural, we have less things to go wrong” compared to urban areas.

He added that from past discussions with the Met Office, winds gusting 65 to 70mph is “just beyond the normal routine weather event they would expect for the Western Isles.”

Winds about 75mph would prompt an amber alert in the islands, he explained.