Prepare for storms

Storm Boelo update

Storm Boelo has been upgraded from a yellow to an amber warning for parts of Scotland through Saturday evening, extending eastwards through Sunday.

The Met Office has warned of widespread winds reaching 60-70mph, with more exposed areas seeing gusts up to 80mph.

We'd like to highlight that windblow losses can be significant, and it is best practice to prepare.

We recommend woodland managers and owners read the Scottish Windblow Contingency Plan.

Guidance is also available on managing storm damaged trees.

Prepare for storms with the Scottish Windblow Contingency Plan Read our tips for managing storm damaged trees

Guidance for forest owners and land managers

Scottish Forestry recommend that forest owners and land managers:

familiarise themselves with the available guidance and processes
mitigate the risk of windthrow through informed forest planning and enhanced silvicultural practice
develop and socialise forest-level windblow contingency plans for areas they own or manage
ensure key staff and stakeholders are familiar with forest-level windblow contingency plans
subscribe to the (free) Met Office weather warning service to ensure advance warning of potentially damaging winds
investigate windblow cover/insure against losses because of wind blow where applicable and appropriate
subscribe to the Scottish Forestry social channels for up-to-date information during and after major storms

The impact of storms

Winds and winter storms are a common occurrence in Scotland. We should always expect that some trees will fall over because of high winds (this is called windthrow or windblow).

This is a very natural process in forests and helps make new habitats and space for smaller plants and younger trees to grow.

By contrast, extreme storms with windspeeds greater than 90 mph can sometimes have devastating impacts. These need to be carefully planned for, and managed.

When such a storm damages enough trees (>1 million cubic metres) it is termed a Major Windblow Event. Major windblow events can cause serious problems for forests and society such as:

uprooting and breaking trees
preventing emergency services access
disrupting electricity, water, phone, gas services and public transport

The Scottish Windblow Contingency Plan

The Scottish Windblow Contingency Plan sets out a plan for dealing with major windblow events in Scottish Forests and clearing up the trees afterwards. If you own a forest it can help you consider your local plan.

It covers:

forest planning measures that can mitigate risks and increase the resilience of forests to storm events
steps that should be taken at forest level to prepare for all windblow events
processes that are triggered when winds exceeding 90 miles per hour are forecast
responses that will occur to promote recovery after a potentially major windblow event

Scottish Windblow Contingency Plan

Past major windblow events in Scotland

Year/detail	Regions	Volume of windblown timber (million cubic meters*)
January 1953 “The North-sea Flood” 126 mph	North-east Scotland	1.8
January 1968 “Hurricane Low Q” 134 mph	Central Scotland	1.64
January 1976 “The Great Gale” 134 mph	North Scotland, West Scotland	0.96
October 1987 “The Great Storm “ 120 mph	Europe, South-east England	3.91
January 1990 “The Burns Day Storm” 135 mph	North-Western Europe	1.26
December 1999 “Cyclone Martin” 120 mph	North-Western Europe	152
November 2021 “Storm Arwen” 110 mph	North-east Scotland, Central Scotland, Southern Scotland	2.85

Is climate change increasing major windblow?

The frequency, scale and location of major windblow events is unpredictable.

On average, the Windblow Contingency Plan is activated once per year.

While major windblow events are rare (around one per decade), it must be recognised that the likelihood is increasing due to climate change.