A woman has died after being rescued from the sea off the coast of a west Highland village.
Emergency services were alerted to the incident off Ullapool yesterday after a report from a member of the public about a person in the water in the Shore Street area, at about 7.05am.
The woman was recovered from the water and was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where she later died.
Her death is currently being treated as unexplained, although it is understood to have been an accident, and her next of kin have been informed.
Inspector David Ogilvie said: “Our inquiries are at an early stage and I would urge anyone who has information which could help establish the circumstances to make contact with us.
“Our thoughts are with the woman’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
Anyone with information should contact police on 101.
One local worker said there was a high police presence in Ullapool most of the day as officers carried out their inquiries.
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh councillor, Derek MacLeod, said: “I am concerned that there have been several tragic events in the area in recent times and I’d like to express my sympathies to this lady’s family.”
Tain pensioner Roderick Sutherland died in hospital on Monday this week, three days after being involved in a crash on the A832 road near Dundonnell.
Mr MacLeod said he had passed the accident shortly after it happened last Friday.
Mr Sutherland was being taken by his family to the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum in Aultbea, on which Mr MacLeod is a committee member.
He was described as a well liked man in his Easter Ross town, a regular churchgoer and longstanding SNP party member.
In July, the body of a 78-year-old woman, Evelyn Fleming of Shore Street in Ullapool, was found at the bottom of Corrieshalloch Gorge near the village.