A warning of potentially severe gale force winds for the north of Scotland has been issued by the Met Office.
The agency have warned that winds could reach 70mph over the Western Isles, the north coast of Sutherland and Caithness, Orkney and Shetland on Thursday.
The Met Office have issued a yellow weather warning, covering from 1am until 6pm on Thursday.
They said: “While wind strengths will not be unusual for the time of year, this will be the first severe gale of what has been a quiet autumn so far.”
The forecast is for southwesterly winds to strengthen to gale or severe gale force in the early hours of Thursday morning, veering westerly during the day.
Gusts will reach 55-65mph widely within the warning area, while Orkney and the north coast may see winds reach 70mph.
The gales will gradually ease from the west during the afternoon.
The high winds will be caused by a deep area of low pressure moving east between Shetland and the Faroes.
The Met Office have also warned of potential minor disruption to ferry services and potentially poor driving conditions.
Warning issued as high winds to batter north on Thursday
