Glasgow fire: What we know so far

A huge blaze that engulfed a B-listed Victorian building in the centre of Glasgow on Sunday evening has left Scotland's busiest railway station shut down for days and destroyed dozens of businesses.

Here is what we know so far about the fire and its aftermath.

The fire started in a vape shop on Union Street at about 15:45 on Sunday, with firefighters being called soon afterwards.

The blaze later engulfed the entire building which occupied the corner of Union Street and Gordon Street, next to Glasgow Central Station, causing it to partially collapse.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said six crews were initially sent to the four-floor building.

Videos posted on X show smoke billowing out of a ground-floor vape shop next to a side entrance to the railway station.

An eyewitness told BBC Scotland News that he tried to tackle the fire at the vape shop but had to abandon the attempt after a series of explosions.

Lamin Kongira said he had been walking past when a shopkeeper ran out shouting "fire, fire".

He said he ran into the shop, where he saw an adapter charging system - full of chargers - under the counter and a small fire.

Lamin then went next door to the Subway sandwich shop to get help.

He said he returned with a fire extinguisher and tried to fight the fire but he heard two explosions in the vape shop and had to turn around.

He told the BBC he thought it was the second explosion that spread the fire to other parts of the building.

During Sunday evening, the fire appears to have taken hold throughout the building.

The flames reached the dome on the corner of the historic 19th Century building and the front wall collapsed to the ground.

The fire service confirmed the fire broke out in a vape shop and said a preliminary multi-agency investigation had begun into the cause.

Only the facade of the building at the corner of Gordon Street and Union Street is left standing.

The building known as Union Corner, dates back to 1851, pre-dating the station which opened in 1879.

At the height of the incident, 250 firefighters, 18 fire engines and specialist resources, including a high-volume pump drawing water from the River Clyde, were deployed to the scene.

The SFRS said its response to the incident was scaled back on Monday with eight fire engines including three high-reach vehicles still on site.

Fire crews used aerial platforms to hose water on to what remained of the building, as smoke hung in the air.

Crews were working to cool off hotspots in the stonework and assist structural engineers in assessing the stability of the remaining building.

The remaining facade of the building is now in a state of "ongoing and uncontrolled collapse", according to the city council.

Business owners told BBC Scotland they remain "heartbroken" after dozens of retail units that were housed in Union Corner burnt to the ground.

Courtney MacKinnon has run a hairdressing business called Cece's Salon in the building for the past four years.

She said she had been left devastated by the destruction and did not know what the future would hold.

"It's really shocking, the amount of small businesses that are gone," she said.

"Everybody there works so hard, it's difficult for everyone. Everything seems to be gone."

Alessandro Varese, who owns the well-known Blue Lagoon chip shop on Gordon Street and neighbouring Sexy Coffee, said both had been "completely destroyed".

He said another branch of Blue Lagoon on Argyle Street was closed because of smoke damage, while an office on the third floor of the Gordon Street building had also been wrecked in the blaze.

Varese said he wanted all of the business owners in the block to "stick together" and rebuild.

First Minister John Swinney visited the scene on Monday and said the Scottish government would contribute financially to help the council.

But there is no clear recovery plan for local businesses yet.

Studios and expensive equipment were destroyed in the fire, and people have donated to fundraisers to help deal with the financial impact.

Glasgow Central is one of the busiest stations in the UK, with 25 million passenger visits each year.

It is the main station for all services on the west coast mainline to England and also operates services throughout central Scotland.

ScotRail said no services would operate in or out of Central Station on Tuesday and warned that disruption would continue for several days.

Low level trains will pass through the station to stop at nearby Argyle Street and Anderston stations.

There will be limited replacement buses available for some services. ScotRail said it will update passengers on social media, on its website and on its app.

Avanti West Coast said tickets dated between 8 and 13 March can be used at no extra cost on any Avanti West Coast train on the same route until Friday.

"The majority of our trains between Scotland and London are able to run normally to/from Motherwell and Edinburgh," the train company said.

"Our other routes, such as to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and North Wales are unaffected by this disruption."

Police Scotland said several roads around Union Street and Central Station would remain closed. They are:

• Renfield Street at West George Street
• St Vincent Street at West Nile Street
• West Nile Street southbound from Bath Street
• Broomielaw between Oswald Street and Jamaica Street

First Bus Greater Glasgow said the fire and subsequent road closures had brought disruption to multiple services.

Union Street, where the fire took place, is a main drop-off point for many city centre passengers.

The station has been closed since Sunday but appears to have avoided any major damage.

Network Rail said the low-level platforms will reopen for train services from Wednesday morning following a full site assessment.

But the high-level station will not reopen this week due to the instability of the building façade and required building assessment works that need to happen.

BBC Scotland News understands that Network Rail staff have visited the station and believe there has not been serious damage inside the station itself.

Engineers at the rail operator have been to the station concourse, and believe that it is in good shape. They have also visited the nearby Caledonian Chambers building, which apparently has not suffered major damage either.

A firebreak between Union Corner and the external wall of the station is thought to have stopped Sunday's inferno spreading further.

A step-by-step process will need to be undertaken before the station can re-open.

Once SFRS is confident hot spots in the rubble have been damped down and the fire has been completely extinguished, they will hand the site over to Glasgow City Council.

The local authority will then decide what happens to the remains of Union Corner, where the building burnt down.

The façade of the building is still standing and could cause damage to the station if it fell.

After that, Network Rail will began carrying out safety inspections to determine when services can resume.