Thousands lose power as Storm Éowyn hits Scotland

An estimated 35,000 homes in Scotland are without power as Storm Éowyn sweeps across the country.

Almost all schools have been closed and many transport services suspended with very high winds recorded, including one of 100mph in Lanarkshire.

A large portion of the central belt and south west is covered by a red "danger to life" warning for wind from 10:00 until 17:00 - which has been extended to include much of Dumfries and Galloway.

Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN), said 20,000 homes had lost power in central and southern areas by early afternoon, while SSEN, which supplies the north said about 15,000 households were without electricity.

Police Scotland said that as many as 11,000 homes had lost power in Dumfries and Galloway alone.

Forecasters have warned the storm could be the most destructive to hit Scotland's central belt in 13 years.

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People have been urged not to travel with danger from flying debris, coastal overtopping, power cuts, fallen trees and damage to buildings.

And ScotRail said customers should not expect any trains to operate before 12:00 on Saturday.

So far a peak gust of 100mph has been recorded in Drumalbin, South Lanarkshire, and 95.7mph on the Forth Road Bridge.

Elsewhere, winds reached 91mph at Port Ellen on Islay and 87mph at Bishopton, Renfrewshire - the highest recorded in the Glasgow area since 2012.

SSEN said 170,000 vulnerable customers had been sent text messages giving them advice on how to prepare.

The firm said it had restored power to nearly 10,000 homes, and it had increased its response teams to "10 times the usual levels".

But it said more than 15,000 of its customers were still without power and that further disruption to supplies was likely throughout the day.

Ferries, flights and rail services have been cancelled, while Police Scotland has launched a dedicated operation to support those who are now stranded after booking onto sea crossings.

Police Scotland said the A1 was closed between the Spott Roundabout and Cockburnspath due to a "number of overturned vehicles".

Sepa has issued a number of flood warnings for western areas and Dumfries and Galloway.

The whole of Northern Ireland is covered by another red alert and thousands there are also without power.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that it was "so important" that people did not take risks in the weather.

She added that it was "important expectations are managed" regarding the aftermath of the storm, with disruption likely to continue into Saturday.

Forbes said that businesses and shops have a "responsibility to keep workforces safe" in the weather and should consider whether to close.

ScotRail suspended all services on Friday, saying it would "not be safe to operate passenger services" due to the conditions.

The operator's communications director, David Ross, told Good Morning Scotland: "The big risk is objects falling onto the line, for example trees trapping trains.

"Given the conditions across the country it would be very difficult to access trapped trains, whether through the road conditions or other objects on the line preventing rescue. It just wouldn't be safe."

Network Rail advised those with garden furniture or trampolines to ensure they are tied down to avoid further debris blowing on to tracks.

Edinburgh Airport said flights would not operate during the weather warning, warning passengers that schedules would be disrupted into the weekend.

A handful of flights were able to take off and land this morning but the impact of the storm has already resulted in 158 cancellations.

One flight from London Stansted attempted to land several times before abandoning its approach and diverting to Cologne, Germany, about 762 miles (1,226km) away.

Glasgow Airport is operating a limited service, while all but a handful of flights from Aberdeen Airport – which is facing an amber warning – have been cancelled.

Travel reporter Simon Calder told the programme that about 250-300 flights within Scotland had been cancelled on Friday, affecting up to 20,000 passengers.

In addition to disruption on the rail network and at airports, other public transport was being affected:

• CalMac cancelled all ferry services on Friday, while Northlink said services on its routes would be cancelled or delayed.

• Police Scotland said those booked on ferry services between Cairnryan and Northern Ireland should not travel to the area and check with operators Stenaline and P&O for any updates.

• Freight drivers who "must attend" the port are being asked to follow instruction from their operators to access the Operation Overflow site, which will provide support.

• The Tay Bridge has closed to all pedestrians and vehicles. The Forth Road Bridge and Clackmannanshire Bridge also closed while the Queensferry Crossing was restricted to cars.

• Traffic Scotland confirmed the closure of the entire A75 due to "severe, adverse weather".

• In Edinburgh, Lothian Buses said all services were being withdrawn for the duration of the red warning.

• CityLink has also cancelled all of its services heading south of Perth and departing from or going to Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Outside of the red warning area, the rest of Scotland will be covered by amber and yellow alerts for wind and snow for much of the day.

An amber warning for wind covering everywhere north of Perth, including Orkney and Shetland, lasts from 06:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday.

Another amber warning for wind covering everywhere south of Perth, though sweeping up the west coast encompassing the Isle of Mull, lasts from 06:00 until 21:00 on Friday. This will include the areas affected by the red alert after 17:00

Meanwhile, a yellow warning for snow, starting at 06:00 on Friday until midnight, covers parts of central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands and Argyll & Bute.

A further yellow warning for snow and ice covering the northern mainland and central belt, from midnight until 11:00 Saturday, was issued by the Met Office on Friday morning.

It is estimated up to 25cm of snow could fall in areas above 300m, but icy stretches are expected to form on untreated surfaces across the country as temperatures fall below freezing.

Other amber and yellow alerts for wind are also in place on Saturday.

BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith Ralston described the storm as a "once in a generation" event.

She said the strongest gusts early on Friday morning were recorded around Islay and the Mull of Kintyre in the south west.

She said: "We've seen gusts in excess of 60mph here but we're looking at 80-90mph, possibly 100mph for the west coast in the red warning area.

"This is an intense storm - once in a generation if not rarer."

Most schools and nurseries are closed across the country and many council services, like bin collections, are disrupted.

Non-urgent planned procedures have been postponed in NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Lothian.

Tesco and Sainsbury's have shut stores across all areas in the red warning zone to "ensure the safety of its colleagues and customers".

Meanwhile, delivery service UberEats said it was pulling all services in the red zone until the warning ended.