Motorhome Blown off a Cliff on the NC500 With Occupants Inside

Th
Tonks said:
Yikes! 😲

Apparently in the Sheildaig area of the NC500.

Facebook link to post Lots of comments under the original post, including from other MH hirers who also lost their business. Doing a quick search on 'motorhomes blown over', as you do, I found lots more than I would've expected. Some with more tragic outcomes than in this case. That said, you do wonder why some people don't seem to use any common sense...

Text from post for those not on FB:
"With a heavy heart (and still utter disbelief) that I’m writing this post….
This is my colleagues motorhome
😮
😩
😳
Their hirers parked it on a cliff top in 50mph winds. They were in it as it blew off the edge and bounced down the hill. They (amazingly!) thankfully survived. His business sadly may not."

Pictures for those not on FB:
View attachment 884314

View attachment 884316
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So that explains it! Weather was vile - not just wind but lashing rain and spindrift right across the loch. We could just make out the flashing lights on the opposite side from our lounge window - OH had binoculars out. Glad occupants ok.

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DavidG58 said:
It would be interesting to see where it was parked,
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Wonder if it was here? We have seen some other folk parked there before.
57.523432532623644, -5.63352026138312
 
Guigsy said:
5 decimal places gives you the accuracy to roughly metre level. That tells us which atom they were parked on. 😅
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Yip, always use that number of decimal points as gotta make sure the ehu, water hose and tv cable reach the bollard! :whistle2:

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Can't understand why it just looks like it is parked up, can' see any dints in the cab, how did it do a 'cat fall' and land on all fours?
 
The story is now in the Guardian / Observer, with a little more detail:

www.theguardian.com

‘Lucky to be alive’: family’s motorhome blown away while they are in it

Rental vehicle containing two adults, two children and two dogs tumbled down hill towards loch after ‘freak gust of wind’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

And the rental company that supplied the van - Luna Motorhome Hire:

Luna Motorhome Hire | Motorhome Hire | Luxury Motorhome Hire

Luxury motorhome hire with Luna Motorhome Hire. Book your adventure today and get the most out of your holiday. Pet friendly motorhome hire. Campervan hire.
lunamotorhomehire.co.uk lunamotorhomehire.co.uk
 
Lenny HB said:
Another lot hiring out 7.4m vans with 6 seats & births saying they can take 4 adults and 2 children @3500kg.
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Just you wait and see! This will be the insurers get out clause!:swear2:

All the renters fault as there wasn't 4 adults and 2 kids in the motorhome so was underweight and not properly ballasted!:whistle2::RollEyes:
 
We still don't know the full story. When did they actually got out of the van? Surely not when it got to the bottom in pieces?

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Nyvern said:
We still don't know the full story. When did they actually got out of the van? Surely not when it got to the bottom in pieces?
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A bit more detail here

www.theguardian.com

‘Lucky to be alive’: family’s motorhome blown away while they are in it

Rental vehicle containing two adults, two children and two dogs tumbled down hill towards loch after ‘freak gust of wind’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Very lucky people it would seem . . . .

Oops - sorry. Just seen that someone else posted the same link . . .
 
TheBig1 said:
Not a chance it blew over a cliff top in the relatively mild winds just experienced. More likely the handbrake was not properly applied and wheels not chocked. Have seen some very stupid people hiring motorhomes and would not be surprised if they parked on a cliff edge for the view and to enjoy the storm.
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Relatively mild winds - you obviously were not in North Scotland when the storm came in. 70-80mph winds. Very uninformed and opinionated post.
 
Smegger65 said:
They were parked in a laybye
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They were but the lay-by in question is on the cliff edge … the coast road is elevated and runs along the side of a cliff - cliffs above and below. Because there are mountains all around the wind swirls and shifts constantly and gusts can come from any direction.
Our house is diagonally opposite on the other side of the loch … we could see the blue lights of the emergency vehicles through the rain.
I can confirm that it was blowing a hoolie - far from ‘relatively mild’ as suggested in a post above.
 
If the winds topped 70 miles per hour, a speed that might rock the van and is a speed often driven at, it is NOT anywhere near enough to blow 3.5tonnes over. I live on the south coast right opposite the needles, where wind speeds have regularly gone over 100 miles per hour. And never have I seen a parked motorhome blown over. Even on rallies and camp sites where caravans have tipped over, adjacent motorhomes have stayed upright.

I was parked on a cliff top in Bude Cornwall some years ago when the tail end of a hurricane hit and smashed up the site. Barely any awnings survived (only those at the base of the hill). It was a frightening experience with winds that strong and the van was rocking on the suspension. However not a single van went over. A couple of caravans moved off their levellers, but even they stayed upright.

Opinionated? Yes maybe, but based on first hand experience. The handbrake suggestion fits because I know also from experience that they can and do release if not pulled up tight and the van left in gear. A situation often experienced by campers on levellers.

So yes 70mph winds are relatively mild to what it requires to roll a heavy vehicle sideways over a cliff. Be honest now and tell me how many vans you have personally witnessed being blown over?

Thinking back I recall winds of 125mph shredding a site full of static caravans, ripping roofs off, and dropping trees, but vans on site still left on their wheels. In the big storm in the 1980s that ripped roofs of houses, not one motorhome parked up got blown over. High sided lorries crossing bridges maybe, but not a 7m motorhome. To do so would take a sideways force of over 3 tonnes pushing for several seconds. There are videos online that show testing on vans, lorries and busses to see what the tipping point is that proves this.

Please don't criticise the opinion of somebody that has actually spent the time to consider how this could happen based on the physics. Yes an opinion, but based on knowledge and far more likely than that suggested by the sensationalist journalism

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Just took at the vicious squall in the background ripping spindrift off the water surface.
My experience of the Torridon area is there are very vicious gusts roaming in off the sea an d rolling off the mountains - that squall in the background is easily 70mph given the amount of spray.
IMG_0514.jpeg
 
gerry mcg said:
Just took at the vicious squall in the background ripping spindrift off the water surface.
My experience of the Torridon area is there are very vicious gusts roaming in off the sea an d rolling off the mountains - that squall in the background is easily 70mph given the amount of spray.
View attachment 885735
Click to expand...
The spindrift was the most impressive I’ve seen yet. We’re a little higher than water level as road rises. Was hard to estimate the height but it looked really impressive as it came over from Sheildaig side towards us! I don’t think you can underestimate how the wind shifts and swirls around the loch due to mountains on both sides. I’m not arguing about it … I don’t know whether it could or couldn’t blow a van off the cliff but I would say that the winds are more complex than many who don’t know the area would assume.
 
It didn't have to topple the van - a slight movement on a slippery surface towards more sloping ground would do it.
 
Gellyneck said:
Wonder if it was here? We have seen some other folk parked there before.
57.523432532623644, -5.63352026138312
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Funnily enough, I wondered the same thing. I parked up there once and the wind was terrifying, made me move and take shelter in the village carpark till it subsided.
 
We were on the NC500 in November last year during a really bad storm. We are very experienced motorhomers and sought refuge in a sheltered spot. We were woken in the night to find our habitation door wide open. It had been locked so still don’t know what had happened. The winds had blown it open somehow and damaged the door and it was impossible to close completely. A rubber hammer and ratchet straps helped until we got home. It was a scary experience and just shows how very careful you need to be.

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GrannieAnnie said:
We were on the NC500 in November last year during a really bad storm. We are very experienced motorhomers and sought refuge in a sheltered spot. We were woken in the night to find our habitation door wide open. It had been locked so still don’t know what had happened. The winds had blown it open somehow and damaged the door and it was impossible to close completely. A rubber hammer and ratchet straps helped until we got home. It was a scary experience and just shows how very careful you need to be.
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Both your Rolex's stolen as well?:whistle2:
 
gerry mcg said:
Just took at the vicious squall in the background ripping spindrift off the water surface.
My experience of the Torridon area is there are very vicious gusts roaming in off the sea an d rolling off the mountains - that squall in the background is easily 70mph given the amount of spray.
Click to expand...
this photo
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is taken from 57°31'24.26"N, 5°38'2.00"W
tempImageR3VdWi.png
tempImageuAbgGt.png
 
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