Storm Ciara causes haulage chaos

While officials sent out a warning telling road users to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary, for many HGV drivers it was business as always. While some did avoid the roads after the warning was sent out, many truckers continued about their business.

As the strong winds travelled at 90MPH, which also caused damage in many local areas. There were multiple cases of trucks being completely blown over by the winds while travelling, such as in Scotland on the A96, along with a coach that overturned in Newburgh.

According to police information, neither accidents involved major injuries, but the routes were closed overnight to ensure that the vehicles could be safely removed and the roads cleared to be accessible for other drivers the following morning.

On the M1, a similar situation involved a truck overturning due to the dangerous winds leading to the closure of the M1 while the recovery team moved the truck and ensured the safety of road users, cleaning up the debris before re-opening the road.

Meanwhile, many flights across the UK were cancelled. With officials once again urging members of the public to avoid travel wherever possible, whether this is through rail routes or flight as there were many hazardous routes left form the aftermath of the storm in the UK.

Fallen trees and other hazards being left on roads across the country have led to commuter chaos this morning, with the debris proving to be one of the major risks that still remain on the roads – while officials will do what they can to clear up the roads as soon as possible, a lot of work will be required to resume business as always on the roads after Storm Ciara’s impact over the weekend.

While the worst could be behind us, there are still warnings for flood alerts all over the UK as the storm hasn’t fully settled as of yet. For truckers, the best solution would be to avoid travelling wherever possible to ensure your own safety as well as that of your drivers.

Unfortunately that’s not always possible, so it would be best to check the conditions of weather in particular areas for the coming days and plan routes in advance as much as possible to avoid any potential delays or getting stuck out in the hazardous conditions from Storm Ciara.

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