Gale force winds and heavy rain are forecast to sweep across parts of Scotland this week.
A powerful jet stream is set to surge in from the Atlantic, triggering amber warnings from the Met Office of very strong winds.
It is expected to hit in earnest overnight tomorrow into Friday, with a risk of gusts of up to 100mph for some places while 70mph winds will be widespread across the rest of Scotland and northern England.
The amber "be prepared" warnings cover the possibility of very strong westerly winds across the Western Isles, north and north-west Scotland and Orkney, with yellow warnings in place for the rest of the country.
The public are warned to prepare for disruption to transport as well as power supplies and the possibility of structural damage. Very large waves may also lead to dangerous conditions along some coasts, the Met Office said.
A yellow "be aware" warning for rain has also been issued for today for much of Scotland, with the heaviest downpours expected in parts of west and central areas.
Surface water and spray on the roads and a risk of localised minor flooding in some areas are predicted.
The weather was already starting to have an impact for motorists this morning as the Forth Road Bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles and a 40mph speed limit was put in place due to high winds.
Drivers are also told to expect closures on the Skye Bridge because of the gusts.
Elsewhere, Traffic Scotland said surface water is affecting many roads including the M80 and areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Lothian and Borders.
There is also some disruption to ferry services as Caledonian MacBrayne said sailings between Mallaig and the islands of Eigg and Muck have been cancelled for today due to high winds and swell conditions.
Morning sailings on the Arran ferry were also cancelled because of winds in excess of 60mph, with the company reviewing services for the rest of the day.
Engineers monitoring the A83 Rest and Be Thankful road in Argyll have highlighted dirty water flowing from the hillside which is causing "some concern".
The traffic management on the Old Military Road diversion route has been installed as a precaution, road operator Bear Scotland said.
The A83 remains open in both directions, with motorists advised to proceed with care.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article