THOUSANDS of properties have been left without power after high winds battered Scotland.
More than 8000 customers of Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) were offline at one point, although engineers said that by yesterday afternoon they had managed to restore power to more than 6000 properties. The remaining customers were expected to have power again by last night.
The Western Isles, Fort William and Oban areas have been worst affected, while engineers are working to repair a number of smaller faults across the network area, mainly in the Highlands.
ScottishPower engineers worked to restore power to around 500 properties in Stewartry, Wigtownshire and Dumfries in southern Scotland.
Strong winds swept across the country on Wednesday night with gusts of 90mph on South Uist and 55mph in Glasgow. The strongest wind speed was recorded on Cairnwell mountain in the Cairngorms, which was hit by a 120mph gust at 2am.
Three passengers were injured on the MV Hrossey ferry from Shetland to Aberdeen at around 11pm on Wednesday night as it sailed through rough seas and heavy swell. Two of them needed hospital treatment in Kirkwall, Orkney. A number of passenger vehicles were also damaged. The ship left Orkney at around 8.10am yesterday morning to continue its journey to Aberdeen.
In the Western Isles, Tolsta School on Lewis was shut yesterday due to storm damage, while Laxdale School on Lewis and Leverburgh School in Harris were closed due to lack of power.
Weather warnings remained in place for today and tomorrow, with a mixture of sleet and hail expected alongside strong to gale force winds. The Met Office warned of the possibility of ice on the roads and advised drivers to expect some disruption.
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