Lorna Slater speaking at Scottish Green Party conference

Following the damage and chaos caused by Storm Éowyn across Scotland, with schools, public transport, and football all being cancelled due to high winds, the Scottish Greens have called for workers to be protected from extreme weather.

Despite the closures and cancellations, the Scottish Greens have raised that many hospitality and retail businesses remained open even with a red weather warning from the Met Office.

As a result, Scottish Greens Co-Leader Lorna Slater MSP is calling on the UK Government to protect workers from extreme weather events.

Extreme weather events such as Storm Éowyn are likely to become more frequent as the climate emergency accelerates.

Slater said: “Red weather warnings are rare, but the damage that they do is severe. It’s appalling that any business forced workers to ignore government advice and come into work during one of the worst storms for a long time.

“We’ve seen the devastating impact of Storm Eowyn on communities across Scotland, with hundreds of thousands of homes losing power, railways brought to a standstill, and, tragically, the loss of life.

“As the climate crisis worsens, we will face increasing climate chaos, so we must be prepared to protect communities and workers against these extreme weather events.

“The best thing the UK government can do is take real action to tackle the climate crisis and reduce emissions, but they must also adapt to the damage already done.

“Governments must face the reality of climate breakdown and adapt legislation to protect workers; we need to see robust rights in place for workers to stay safe during red weather warnings by rejecting shifts or avoiding unnecessary travel.”