Edinburgh Castle was forced to close early as strong winds of up to 70mph swept through the country.

High winds also caused delays and cancellations of CalMac services, and at one point the Tay Road Bridge was closed to all traffic.

Gales whipped up what were described as coastal "sandstorms" in Fraserburgh, Forres, Banff and Elgin, while elsewhere trees, branches and an advertising hoarding were brought down in Glasgow.

After yellow warnings of high winds were issued for much of Scotland by the Met Office yesterday, forecasters were also issuing similar warnings for heavy rain and localised flooding in the Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Fife areas valid until the end of tomorrow.

Forecasters said Inverbervie on the Aberdeenshire coast had the highest recorded gust yesterday at 73mph.

Erika Cartney, who works at the Tesco store in Fraserburgh, said: "I've never seen anything like it. It's like fog but it's sand."

Police Scotland said routes in Moray and Banffshire had been affected by sand and fallen trees.

In Glasgow, trains were disrupted when an advertising hoarding came down between Glasgow Central and Mount Florida.