Gale-force winds and heavy rain caused more misery for travellers in the north yesterday as train and ferry services were cancelled and more than 1,000 homes were left without power.
A landslip on the railway line between Inverness and Dingwall disrupted services yesterday and strong winds affected ferry runs to the west and north.
But the Met Office said the stormy conditions should recede over the weekend, with Sunday expected to be bright and dry with light winds.
Gusts of up to 105mph were recorded at the summit of Cairn Gorm, and wind speeds hit 64mph in Lerwick.
The weather caused an embankment to collapse on to the railway line between Clachnharry, Inverness, and the village of Bunchrew, blocking the route and bringing three trees down. The landslip was discovered by a train crew testing the route for weather damage late on Thursday and engineers closed the line.
Further inspections were carried out at first light. The trees and debris were removed and the bank stabilised to let services resume with a 20mph restriction in place at the site.
Early morning services between Inverness and Dingwall were cancelled and trains to Wick and Kyle of Lochalsh were also affected. ScotRail laid on buses for passengers.
Ferry services were also affected by the high winds, with the MV Lord of the Isles ferry forced to turn back to Oban on Thursday after being unable to berth at Lochboisdale, South Uist, disrupting yesterday’s timetable.
Caledonian MacBrayne added an additional sailing today, leaving Oban at 6am for Castlebay.
A Mallaig-Lochboisdale sailing and some services to Islay were also cancelled
The MV Hrossey NorthLink Ferry sailing from Lerwick to Aberdeen took an alternative route due to the weather and sheltered for a time near Fraserburgh before arriving in Aberdeen at 3.45pm, more than eight hours late.
Across the Highlands and islands about 1,200 properties were without power yesterday morning, including 416 on Orkney and 144 in Inverness.
SSE said it expected to have power restored by the evening and apologised to customers.
Met Office forecaster, Matt Roe, said: “There will be some gusts of wind affecting the north of Scotland on Saturday morning but these should ease by the afternoon. Sunday looks to be dry with some sunshine and lighter winds.”
Elsewhere in Scotland around 2,400 homes were without power yesterday.
Gusts of more than 80mph hit exposed parts, with the west and south-west of Scotland worst affected.
Properties in Dumfries and Galloway lost electricity as trees and debris brought down power lines.
Thirteen flood warnings were in place in Tayside with as much as 40mm of rain expected in places.
Meanwhile, rainfall on already saturated ground threatened to flood low-lying agricultural areas.
The strongest gusts of wind were recorded at Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire (81mph), and Dundrennan, Dumfries and Galloway (70mph).
On the mountain tops the wind reached 93mph in the Cairngorms at 10am and 75mph in Glen Ogle, near Stirling.