Scotland weather: Power restored after Christmas gales

Towns including Saltcoats, in Ayrshire, have been experiencing some of the adverse weather

Electricity supply has been restored to all homes in Scotland after gales caused power cuts over Christmas.

Scottish Hydro said 3,500 houses lost electricity on Tuesday night. By Christmas Day the number had been cut to around 1,700, and engineers continued to repair faults.

Elgin, Aberdeenshire and communities in the Northern and Western Isles were worst hit.

The highest recorded gust on Tuesday stood at 82mph, in Peterhead.

In Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, wind speeds reached 77mph and 75mph on South Uist.

The rest of the country experienced winds of between 50-60mph.

Engineers continued to repair faults and a spokesman for Scottish Hydro said every home to be "back on supply" by Wednesday night.

The Met Office had a yellow "be aware" warning for high winds in the far north west of Scotland, including the Western isles, Orkney and Shetland, and Caithness and Sutherland.

Families evacuated

Christmas travel plans were disrupted for hundreds of people on Tuesday, with ferries and flights cancelled, particularly to the Western Isles.

In a first for Christmas Day, ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne was running special sailings to North Uist and Harris, weather permitting.

Meanwhile, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency had 14 flood warnings and 5 flood alerts in place, many in the Tayside area.

Elsewhere, high winds on Tuesday saw part of the roof at Thurso High School in Caithness blown off, damaging two vehicles.

Part of an empty building in Elgin was also damaged, and three families were evacuated from nearby houses, after part of the structure collapsed on to the road.

In the Scottish borders, fallen trees and debris caused problems on some roads, with a mudslide temporarily closing the A7.