Travel warnings should be 'simplified' says Humza Yousaf
- Published
A gritter lorry on the A68 in the Scottish Borders on Thursday
Scotland's transport minister has said travel and weather warnings need to be "simplified" into a single system.
Humza Yousaf told BBC Scotland the current system did "not necessarily translate into clear explicit messages".
The Met Office weather warnings operate on a yellow, amber and red traffic light system whereas police travel warnings are stages one to four.
Mr Yousaf said the "jargon" was not always understood by the public.
The transport minister's comments came after a stage four "do not travel" warning was issued for the south of Scotland on Wednesday night - the first since January 2013.
It was issued in response to an amber warning from the Met Office about snow and ice in the region.
The previous night hundreds of drivers were stranded for hours on the M74 because HGVs lost traction in the heavy snow.
The Met Office had an amber weather warning in place at the time but the police travel advice was stage three, meaning high risk of disruption.
A guide to travel warnings
Travel conditions are graded at four levels by police and transport officials depending on the severity of the weather.
Stage 1: Normal operations - no severe weather.
Stage 2: Travel with caution - police advise people that conditions for road travel may be hazardous.
Stage 3: High risk of disruption for road journeys - police advise that there is a high risk of disruption for road journeys. Travellers are likely to experience significant delays.
Stage 4: Avoid travelling on the roads - journeys should be avoided. Severe delays expected.
What the weather warning colours mean
Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in traffic on the M74 on Tuesday night
Yellow: Severe weather expected. Yellow means you should plan ahead thinking about possible travel delays, or the disruption of your day-to-day activities.
Amber: Be prepared for disruption. There is an increased likelihood of bad weather affecting you, which could potentially disrupt your plans and possibly cause travel delays, road and rail closures, interruption to power and the potential risk to life and property.
Red: Extreme weather is expected. Red means you should take action now to keep yourself and others safe from the impact of the weather. Widespread damage, travel and power disruption and risk to life is likely. You must avoid dangerous areas and follow the advice of the emergency services and local authorities.
Was weather and travel advice correct?
After hundreds of drivers were stranded on the M74 on Tuesday, police were concerned that another amber weather warning for snow and ice had been issued for much of the south of Scotland for Wednesday night.
They upgraded their travel advice to stage four - its highest level.
Scotland's transport minister Humza Yousaf was explicit in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, telling drivers to avoid all travel in the area covered by the amber warning later in the day.
Trucks backed up at Red Moss truck stop off the M74 after Tuesday's problems
In the event, there were some problems on A-roads in Dumfries and Galloway but there was very little fresh snowfall on the M74, the main link from Scotland to England.
The impact of the weather warning was about 20 miles further south than predicted.
Forecasters said there was always some uncertainty to the northern extent of the impact zone and this had been expressed in the forecasts.
Drivers help to push a vehicle back on the road after heavy snow made road conditions difficult in Midlothian
The Southern Borders and Southern Dumfriesshire experienced some fresh snowfall but the more significant snowfall overnight was just south of the border, with 17cm (6.69in) in just two hours for Spadeadam and 15cm (6in) for Shap in Cumbria.
The weather system, which was not a named storm, also brought storm force gusts across parts of England, with trees blown down and widespread travel disruption.
Police Scotland, which has since downgraded its warning, said the weather had not been as severe as first forecast and thanked motorists for heeding the warnings.
A snow plough clears snow on a slip road next to the M74 on Wednesday morning
Supt Calum Glenny said: "When we take decisions to upgrade travel warnings, we do so with careful consideration and public safety is paramount at all times."
Scotland's transport minister told BBC Scotland most drivers had taken the police advice not to travel during the period of the amber warning.
He said: "Unfortunately, we saw another couple of HGV incidents which caused some minor closures for small periods of time but nothing like the scenes we saw on Tuesday evening."
Vehicles travel down the M74 on Wednesday
Mr Yousaf said he was pleased with way it was handled overnight and that was mainly down to Police Scotland's stage four "do not travel" warning.
Should a similar warning have been issued for Tuesday evening?
The transport minister said: "Clearly Police Scotland are the ones who issue the travel advice and we work closely with them.
"That being said, of course, there was a whole range of factors that took place on Tuesday night from the intensity of the snow right through to the number of HGV incidents."
He told BBC Scotland that there was probably a need to look at the different types of warning issued by the police and the Met Office.
Asked if they should be simplified or made into one generic warning, the minister agreed.
He said: "Frankly yes, that is absolutely part of the reflection we have been having over the past couple of days.
"You might have seen from Traffic Scotland's social media site they have been trying to break down what an amber warning means but I think sometimes, although we might understand what the jargon means, it does not necessarily translate into clear explicit messages.
"Hence why most of the messaging yesterday was focused on the words 'do not travel' as opposed to speaking in stage four/amber warnings."
The roads in the borders are relatively clear on Thursday
Meanwhile, Scottish Borders Council and East Ayrshire Council have defended their decision to close schools for a second day despite there being very little snow overnight.
Neighbouring Dumfries and Galloway had just one school closure and there were none in South Ayrshire.
Scottish Borders Council said the council was advised throughout Wednesday that up to 20cm of snow could fall in parts of the region overnight, with up to 8cm widely expected.
The Met Office revised down the predicted snowfall at 22:00 on Wednesday but even that fell south of the region.
Council chief executive Tracey Logan said: "The decision to close schools for a second day was taken following consideration of all options and in the interest of the safety of pupils, staff, parents and carers due to the volumes of snow forecast and the amber weather warning.
"We do not take these decisions lightly and only do so based on the latest information available and the advice our partners, including the Met Office and Police Scotland. Public safety is our paramount consideration."
'Notoriously difficult'
East Ayrshire closed half its schools on Wednesday because of "challenging " weather.
The council said the Met Office amber warning and the police travel warning, both of which covered the area, indicated conditions were going to get worse.
A statement from the council said: "Mindful of the warnings, we decided the safest and most responsible course of action would be for all schools to close and we immediately made that decision known to parents and to the public."
It added: "Predicting the weather is notoriously difficult and winter weather can be especially changeable in a very short space of time."
- Published18 January 2018
