Storm Éowyn Wreaks Havoc on Fife Businesses

On 24 January, Storm Éowyn ravaged across Scotland with record-breaking wind speeds of over 100mph. This made it the strongest windstorm in the UK in over a decade. Ramifications of the storm ranged from inconvenient travel disruptions to costly material damages, impacting local communities and small businesses.

The storm imposed significant damage on Scottish infrastructure, interrupting power lines and leaving 300,000 Scottish residents without electricity. Scottish railways were disrupted for several days due to fallen trees obstructing train tracks. With the Met Office issuing a red weather warning on 24 January, people were advised not to travel on roads between the hours of 10am and 5pm. Edinburgh Airport was forced to limit its operations as many airlines made the decision to suspend flights.

Storm Éowyn struck just as students were returning to St Andrews for the Candlemas semester, subjecting travelers to flight delays, cancellations, and lengthy layovers. Ainsley, a third-year student from Texas, recounted the story of her flight cancellation on the day preceding the storm: “I was en route to the Austin airport when I received the message that my flight from New Jersey to Edinburgh was cancelled, so it was a bit of a scramble to get my connecting flight rebooked.”

Although she was subject to an unprecedented bout of last-minute rescheduling and two protracted layovers, Ainsley remarked that she was grateful to have had an extra day to spend with her family. “There are definitely other people out there who have suffered much worse from Storm Eowyn,” she commented.

Meanwhile, in St Andrews, the Harbour Trust moved vessels to its inner harbour as a precaution. Since Éowyn was a south-westerly storm, the hills of Fife protected the Harbour from damage that would typically occur during a north-easterly storm. This meant that, compared to the devastation of Storm Babet in 2023, the Harbour did not sustain serious damage. This time, it was small agricultural businesses situated in the fields of Fife that largely faced the brunt of the storm’s fury.

While students experienced travel disruptions and St Andrews locals witnessed the total or partial closure of shops and cafes, the effects of the storm were particularly severe for small businesses in the local community. One such small business is East Neuk Market Garden, a four-acre farm located in Bowhouse, St Monans, in the East Neuk of Fife. East Neuk Market Garden supplies vegetables and seasonal produce to various local restaurants and cafés, including the popular St Andrews lunch spot Five Acres, to whom they provide fresh ingredients for the seed-to-plate canteen’s highly coveted salads and stews. They also operate a ‘veg bag’ scheme, for which they grow over 150 different varieties of vegetables, providing customers with diverse, environmentally-friendly produce. This also operates under a solidarity scheme in which higher income customers can subisdise vegetable bags for those with lower incomes.

Storm Éowyn damaged East Neuk Market Garden’s largest polytunnel, resulting in damages that will cost between £10,000 to £20,000 to repair. Scottish agricultural businesses utilise polytunnels to create a microclimate for produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil to thrive while protected from harsh weather conditions. They are essential for extending the shoulder seasons for produce, allowing East Neuk Market Garden to grow produce like rainbow chard and fennel during winter to be harvested in spring. Connie, co-founder of East Neuk Market Garden, described polytunnels as “absolutely integral to feed[ing] people in Scotland.” Meanwhile, their business partner Falkland Kitchen Farm’s shed was also destroyed by the storm.

Connie explained how the storm damage poses a unique economic burden, since the Market Garden cannot claim any funds from insurance to repair the damage on the polytunnels. This prompted East Neuk Market Garden to begin crowdfunding to raise money to repair the tunnel, which they are hoping to restore by May in preparation of the summer season. They stated that “helping us to rebuild this tunnel ensures that we can continue to feed our local community.”

“We feed lots of people nearby with really good food,” Connie stated. “I think we should recognise that it's important work and we should invest well in it.”

While this has been a difficult time for the Market Garden, they expressed whole-hearted gratitude to the local community for showing solidarity towards them. Connie stated, “We've been overwhelmed by the support and generosity that we've received from people in the local community. It’s really helped and has made us feel valued and appreciated.”

They are intent on repairing the damage to ensure that the polytunnel is as durable as possible in the future, recognising that “storms of this intensity are only likely to become more frequent.” Historic Environment Scotland forecasts that Scotland will experience more extreme weather in the future due to climate change.

Photo by Elise Liu