SCOTLAND is counting the cost of Storm Ali as the severely-affected power and transport systems slowly got back to normal.
It emerged yesterday that an Edinburgh schoolboy had been seriously injured during the storm in which wind speeds peaked at over 100mph.
The incident took place at Trinity Primary in the capital’s Newhaven Road just after 1pm on Wednesday.
The Scottish Ambulance Service stated: “We dispatched one ambulance to the scene and we transported one child patient to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.”
A spokesman for the City of Edinburgh Council said the child’s injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
Councillor Ian Perry, Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee, said: “Due to yesterday’s high winds a P2 pupil at Trinity Primary was injured by a branch falling from a tree. We’re currently inspecting trees in the playground and have cordoned the area off.”
Across the country, massive clearing-up operations were taking place as power workers struggled to connect the remaining 5000 homes without electricity. Inspections were also taking place on buildings where masonry was dislodged.
All four sites of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh suffered damage due to the storm. The worst affected was the Logan Botanic Garden in Stranraer where several prize-winning trees were uprooted.
At its Edinburgh headquarters, major repairs got under way after 40 panes of glass were dislodged from their frames at its world-renowned glasshouse.
Benmore near Dunoon was shut to allow for the clearance and removal of damaged branches, while the Dawyck site near Peebles was also closed.
A new storm, Bronagh, is heading for the UK but should miss Scotland.
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