By Richard Thompson

People have been urged to stay at home under what has been described as 'exceptional circumstances' by STV meteorologist Sean Batty.

Storm Eowyn is to batter Scotland with winds of up to 100mph.

The Met Office issued the most severe possible red alert for Friday, forecasting “flying debris resulting in danger to life” along with two amber and yellow warnings.

People have been urged to stay indoors and not to travel under what has been described as “exceptional circumstances” by STV meteorologist Sean Batty.

Storm Eowyn is the fifth named storm of the season after Storm Darragh brought strong winds and snow to parts of the UK in December.

Forecasters warned that flying debris, large waves, and beach debris thrown onto seafronts, coastal roads, and properties could cause injuries and danger to life.

No trains or ferries will run in Scotland on Friday and the public have been urged not to drive on roads unless absolutely necessary.

When will Storm Eowyn hit Scotland?

A Met Office yellow warning for wind comes into force at midnight on Thursday as Storm Eowyn hits Scotland. The alert remains in force until midnight on Friday.

A yellow Met Office snow warning comes into force at 6am on Friday covering the north of Scotland and running until midnight. An amber wind warning also starts at 6am covering the whole country and lasting until 9pm.

The Met Office red warning for wind comes into force at 10am and runs until 5pm. A second amber warning for wind starts at 1pm and runs until 6am on Saturday.

Sean Batty said the peak of the storm is expected to hit during daylight hours when people are likely to be out and about.

“Storms like this can bring down trees onto roads and railway lines with little warning, and falling debris from buildings poses a serious hazard. For these reasons, staying at home during such periods is much safer,” he said.

Additional amber and yellow warnings are in place covering the whole of Scotland, the first of which comes into place on Friday at midnight.

The warnings are set to continue into the weekend with a yellow warning coming into place at midnight on Saturday and expiring at 3pm. Where in Scotland will Storm Eowyn hit hardest?

Strong winds are expected to affect the whole of Scotland, but the hardest-hit areas are the central and southern parts of the country, where the red warning is in place.

The warning covers Stirling, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, the Highlands, Tayside, Strathclyde, the Scottish Borders and parts of the Lothians.

By April Lanux

Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.

The two leaders have developed strong personal links that helped bring relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. China has become a major customer of Russian oil and gas and a source of key technologies amid sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.

In Tuesday’s call with Xi, Putin emphasized that Russia-China relations are based on shared interests, equality and mutual benefits, noting that they “don’t depend on internal political factors and the current international environment.”

“We jointly support the development of a more just multipolar global order and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,” Putin told Xi in remarks carried by the Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.”

Xi similarly praised close cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, saying it helps “bring positive energy to reforming and developing the global system.”

While neither leader directly mentioned Trump in the televised fragment of their call, the timing of the conversation may signal that Putin and Xi want to coordinate their action in dialogue with the new U.S. administration.

The Chinese president had a call with Trump on Friday and expressed hope for positive ties with the U.S.

Trump had threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China in his second term, while also hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl.

Putin, who is yet to talk to Trump, congratulated him on taking office in televised remarks during a video call with officials and welcomed his intention to open a dialogue with Moscow.

Trump told reporters Monday after taking office that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had told him he wanted to make a peace deal and voiced hope that Putin would follow suit. He added that Putin would be destroying Russia by failing to make a deal, pointing out Russia’s economic troubles, including high inflation.

Putin hailed Trump’s openness to dialogue as he spoke to Russia’s Security Council members shortly before the U.S. president's inauguration.

“We hear the statements from Trump and members of his team about their desire to restore direct contact with Russia, which were halted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration,” Putin said on Monday. ”We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III. We certainly welcome such an approach and congratulate the U.S. president-elect on taking office.”

The Russian leader also stressed that dialogue between the two nations should be based on “equal basis and mutual respect, taking into account the important role our countries play on some key issues on the global agenda, including the strengthening of global stability and security.”

Putin also noted that Moscow is open to dialogue with the Trump administration on the conflict in Ukraine, emphasizing the need to respect Russia's interests and adding that “the most important thing is to remove the root causes of the crisis.”

“As for the settlement of the situation, I would like to underline that its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations living in this region,” Putin said.