SCOTLAND is bracing itself for more severe weather as forecasters warn of further high winds and wintry showers.

Tens of thousands of Scots who have only just had power restored to their homes after days without electricity could now face further disruption as more storms batter the north of the country.

The Met Office has issued yellow "be aware" warnings for Scotland for much of today, with winds again expected to be the strongest in the far north and west of Scotland.

Warnings for rain are also in place for Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife, the Highlands and the Western Isles this morning.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has flood warnings in place for Caithness and Sutherland, Tayside, Moray and Speyside.

Met Office forecaster Matt Roe said: "Monday will bring some wintry showers across Scotland, with further snowfall expected over the hills in particular.

"It will be a windy day with gusts up to 50mph in most places, while the far north west will see gusts up 70 or 80 mph, so there are stormy conditions returning to the far north.

"There are wind warnings in place, as well as a risk of localised flooding across the west of Scotland."

He added that further wintry showers are expected at lower levels on Tuesday and Wednesday, although the high winds are expected to ease by midweek.

Yesterday, as gales, snow and rain continued to disrupt travel, engineers worked in "treacherous" conditions to restore power in thousands of homes.

Almost 10,000 customers were without power for the third day yesterday, although most homes were expected to have been restored overnight.

Around a total of 100,000 households suffered outages when strong wind and rain battered the network on Friday.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) said its teams have been visiting vulnerable customers, providing them with hot food and drinks, and charging batteries for their emergency 'on call' alarms.

Mobile catering facilities were also despatched to areas worst hit by the storm, while the electricity distributor also hired local restaurants and food businesses to provide free hot food and drinks, with thousands of meals and hot and cold drinks served.

At a meeting of the Scottish Government's resilience team yesterday, Deputy First Minister John Swinney praised those who have been working to get the power back on.

He said: "I recognise the difficulties that severe weather can have on people's day to day lives. I would assure the public that every effort that can be made is being made to restore services across the country. I would like to pay tribute to those working in our frontline services who have been working hard to keep our communities safe, connected and, where possible, mobile.

"There has been a tremendous effort by staff over the last number of days, in very challenging weather conditions, to restore services to all the remaining households."

Elsewhere, problems on the transport network continued for another day yesterday, with some train routes facing disruption and a number of ferry services cancelled or delayed.

In South Ayrshire, two teenagers were taken to hospital after the car they were travelling in crashed with a gritter on Girvan Road, Turnberry.

The 17-year-old driver suffered serious head and neck injuries and is said to be in a critical condition, while his passenger, a 17-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Two walkers were also rescued from the Cairngorms after becoming stuck in snow in the Loch Etchachan area yesterday morning.

It has also emerged that 15 people were evacuated from St Kilda on Friday as hurricane-force winds battered the island. They were airlifted 40 miles to safety in Benbecula.

Further disruption is expected today and drivers are being urged to take extra precautions on the roads, where surface water is likely to cause problems.

Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: "Due to the persistent rain, one of the main issues is surface water on the trunk roads and our maintenance companies have teams out across the country clearing culverts and drains where required.

"Our winter service patrols and incident support teams are patrolling the network to deal with any localised drainage issues.

"I would urge drivers to take note of the conditions and drive according to them by watching their speeds, following police advice and leaving plenty of time for their journeys."

A meeting at Ayr Racecourse due to take place today has been cancelled due to damage to buildings and the track.