Thousands of homes have been left without power after high winds from Storm Malik brought devastation to he energy grid across northern Scotland.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said the gales caused “significant damage” to its network and had left around 18,000 customers without supply as of Sunday at 11am.

The company has moved to 'red alert' status as it struggles to repair the damage and prepare for the arrival of Storm Corrie 

Rural Aberdeenshire is among the hardest hit areas and some customers in Angus, the Highlands, the Moray Coast and Perthshire are still waiting for supplies to be restored.

SSEN warned that the double blow of Storms Malik and Corrie - due to blow in this afternoon -  could mean that some customers, particularly those in rural Aberdeenshire, may have to wait until Tuesday before supply problems are fixed.

The Herald:

READ MORE: ScotRail cancel all Sunday evening services as Storm Corrie looms

Richard Gough, of SSEN, said: “Our teams continue to make good progress restoring power to customers impacted by yesterday’s extreme weather event, with a further 5,000 customers restored overnight and into this morning.

“Whilst we expect to restore power to a significant number of homes still impacted by Storm Malik throughout the course of today, due to the extent of damage caused, coupled with the expected impact of Storm Corrie, we expect the full restoration of customer supplies from both storms to extend into the early part of next week.

“We are therefore reminding all customers who remain off supply that they may want to consider making alternative arrangements, where possible.”

Graeme Keddie, director of corporate affairs for SSEN, told the BBC that some households could be without power until Tuesday.

He said: "We are pushing out restoration times in some circumstances until Tuesday, that's really just to allow people to make informed choices of staying with family or friends.

"If people do not have alternative accommodation, please do arrange it whether it's a hotel or rented accommodation and we will reimburse them after, on production of receipts.

"We are keen to make sure those in our community are supported especially the most vulnerable."

The Met Office has issued an amber and yellow weather warning for wind across northern parts of Scotland from Sunday into Monday morning.

It states that “flying debris is likely and could lead to Injuries or danger to life” while there may be some damage to trees and buildings, which could include tiles that have blown from roofs.

The Met Office said: “Storm Corrie will bring a spell of very windy weather later today and during Monday morning, particularly across northern parts of the UK.

“Damaging winds are likely to lead to travel disruption in places.”

Storm Corrie will likely cause some travel disruption and generate some “large and dangerous waves around the coasts”, the forecasters add.

A nine-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman were killed as trees were torn down in dangerous gusts on Saturday.

Staffordshire Police said a man is in hospital after the incident which killed the boy.

READ MORE: Met Office issues 'danger to life' alert as Nicola Sturgeon warns of 'severe' weather

Police were called to Hollington Road, Winnothdale, near to Tean, at 1pm on Saturday after reports that a tree had fallen on a boy and a man, and they were both taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

The boy’s death came after a 60-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Aberdeen.

Wintry showers are also expected across northern parts of Scotland which could lead to ice on untreated surfaces, up to 1-2 cm of snow could fall in some areas which are above 200 metres, according to the Met Office.