STORM Otto has left thousands of homes in Scotland without power and led to travel disruption and school closures.
The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for wind covering the whole of Scotland and a stretch of north and north-east England, running from Sheffield to the Scottish border, valid until 3pm on Friday.
Winds as high as 80mph have been recorded across parts of north and north-east Scotland, with 60-75mph elsewhere.
Energy company SSEN said that as of 11am on Friday, 30,000 properties were without power, and it warned it may take more than 48 hours to fully restore supplies.
It said it has so far restored power to more than 10,000 properties.
The network has a significant number of faults on its high voltage network as a result of fallen trees, branches and windblown debris, SSEN said.
Mark Rough, operations director at SSEN Distribution, said: “Following the significant and continued impact of Storm Otto on our electricity distribution network in the north of Scotland, our engineers have been out since first light this morning to restore power to our customers.
“Despite the widespread nature of the storm, coupled with ongoing adverse weather conditions and challenges with access, our teams have made good progress restoring power to homes impacted. With wind speeds expected to subside from around midday, we expect to make significant progress throughout the course of today.
“However, due to the extent of damage, some customers are likely to remain off supply for over 48 hours. We’re working closely with our resilience partners to support local efforts as our teams work to reconnect supplies across our network area.
“I’d like to reassure our customers we’re doing everything we can to restore power as quickly as possible. I’d encourage anyone who may need additional support to contact our dedicated teams on the power cut helpline, 105.”
Meanwhile, schools in some parts of Scotland have been closed due to the conditions, with the Highlands and Aberdeenshire among the areas affected.
In Angus, schools are closed for the mid-term break but the council tweeted that the roof of Burnside Primary School in Carnoustie had been damaged by the high winds.
Aberdeenshire Council warned of several road closures and that some schools are shut, while several GP practices are operating emergency services only as they have no power.
Rail services have been affected due to the storm, with ScotRail implementing an emergency timetable.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail’s head of customer operations, said: “ScotRail services on routes across the country have been impacted by the severe weather conditions of Storm Otto.
“Teams are working around the clock to deal with any weather-related incidents quickly and efficiently.
“We ask customers who are planning to travel to check their journey before they leave for the station, and to keep an eye on our website, app or social media feeds for live updates.”
Police Scotland has urged drivers to take “extra care”.
A Met Office spokesperson said: “The strong winds from Storm Otto will ease through the day as the low pressure moves out into the North Sea.
“After a relatively dry day with good sunny spells in places cloud will build from the west this evening before rain and snow move across most parts overnight.”
Forecasters said snow is likely to fall in locations over 300 metres, with 2-5cm possible across the warning area, and 5-10cm over the highest locations.
A yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued for Friday night until 9am on Saturday.
Forecasters said: “Rain and hill snow will ease in the early morning of Saturday, with some brightness, though rain will return later from the west. There will be some drizzly rain further south, but it will be mild with a few brighter spells by afternoon.
“Wet and windy conditions will return for the north of Scotland on Sunday as an area of low pressure skirts to the north of the UK.”
