Edinburgh Castle and other attractions have closed their doors to the public amid yellow weather warnings being issued for Scotland. The UNESCO World Heritage Site joins Midlothian Sports Centre and the Royal Botanic Gardens in being off limits today, with announcements made this morning.
Edinburgh Live reports that, according to experts, stormy weather could batter the city for four days from today until Thursday. Strong winds are expected to continue into Tuesday, as thousands are set to descend on the capital to celebrate Hogmanay. All three attractions said they would be closed this morning.
The final weather warning for the Lothians is in place until Thursday at 3am. Images from Edinburgh’s Christmas Market also show workers trying to repair a fence which had been damaged by winds. The market was closed on Monday morning. Edinburgh Castle posted on social media about the closure.
A post on X, formerly Twitter, said: “Important update Due to high winds today (Mon 30 Dec) the castle will be closed this morning, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused. The weather conditions at the castle will be reviewed at midday today and a further update will be shared shortly after.”
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh added: “Please note that due to the high winds the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is currently closed. For tonight’s Christmas at the Botanics, we are monitoring the forecast and a decision will be made by 2pm if the show will go ahead tonight.”
Midlothian Council posted to X: “Apologies but, due to the high winds, the Midlothian Snowsports Centre, including the Alpine Coaster, has closed. The team will contact everyone as soon as we can. We will reopen as soon as possible.” The Met Office issued weather warnings for today.
The body, the United Kingdom’s official weather and climate service, said: “Another cloudy day with rain at first on Tuesday, then mainly dry. Windy later. Chance of further rain or snow New Year’s Day. Dry and cold on Thursday.” Andy Page, of the Met Office, also spoke about the forecast.
A Chief Forecaster with the Met Office, he said: “There is a very complicated weather forecast for the UK with snow, strong winds and heavy rain all feature for parts of the UK. Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning during the coming week.
“With such a varied and complex weather situation there is potential for the pattern of warnings to shift and possibly escalate in some areas. With lots of celebrations and people on the move over the coming days, we are urging everyone to keep checking the forecast so they can update their plans.”
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