Almost all ferry services between the mainland and islands off the West coast of Scotland have been suspended after rough seas were determined too dangerous to tackle on Monday morning.
Hundreds of prospective passengers have been stranded on islands including Arran, Barra and Mull after torrential rains and high winds forced the cancellation of several ferry services, while dozens more were suspended until further notice.
READ MORE: SNP under fire over ferry services
On Arran, visitors reported dozens of cars being turned away from services, with the ferry stuck in the docks at Broddick.
Steph Mundy, who was due to return from the island on Monday morning, said several people were “stuck” on the island with little chance of finding overnight accommodation in the off-season.
She said: “The weather conditions have been bad, the first few ferries we tried to board were cancelled and we were told if the five to two one was cancelled, that would be it for the rest of the day.”
“It was, so we are now booked on the 16:40 one tomorrow, by the time we get back to the mainland it will be more than 24 hours later than we should have been.
“I think a few people are in a difficult situation in finding accommodation because it is the off-season and given how poor the weather is, it could be a long night.”
She added: “Hopefully we will see an improvement in the weather tomorrow so we can get home.”
Current forecasts predict wind speeds will drop slightly tomorrow morning, while the chance of rain is also expected to fall.
READ MORE: Ferry giant urged to act to ease island crisis
A CalMac spokesman said: “Adverse weather is causing extensive disruption across our network today.”
“Twenty-six of 28 routes are either cancelled or experiencing delays. We would urge passengers to check the status of their sailings through our website or social media sites before embarking on their journey.”
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