North-east commuters battled troublesome gale force winds yesterday as Storm Henry tore through Scotland.
An amber “be prepared” wind warning was issued by the Met Office for the region last night, which remains in place until 9am today.
Gusts of 112mph were recorded at the Cairngorm Summit by midday yesterday, while other exposed areas reached highs of 70-80mph.
The north-east escaped the worst of the bad weather however, with ferry travel cancelled, rail services disrupted and roads closed across the Highlands and Islands.
Traffic Scotland warned that only essential journeys should be attempted after three lorries were blown from the north’s busiest roads.
Meanwhile, at a weather buoy in the North Sea to the north-west of the mainland, waves reaching heights of 48ft (14.6m) were recorded.
Weather chiefs warned that the stormy conditions could lead to flooding of coastal roads, while the Scottish Government Resilience Room was activated and closely monitored events.
Ferry services between Shetland and Aberdeen were cancelled because of severe weather, though Shetland – which notched up a 105mph gust last week – was expected to “escape the worst of it”.
Moray is predicted to bear the brunt of the winds in the north-east today as a deep area of low pressure pushes quickly eastwards close to the north of Scotland.
A Met Office forecaster said: “Be prepared for some potentially severe weather, causing transport disruption and difficult driving, some structural damage, dangerous coastal conditions and disruption to power supplies.”
Storm Henry follows hot on the heels of Storm Gertrude, which closed schools and left about 2,000 homes in the north-east without power last week.
The A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road was closed in Gertrude’s wake just south of Huntly after a lorry blew over in the gales and was struck by a car.
Flood warnings and flood alerts have also been issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Alerts have been put in place for Skye and Lochaber, Findhorn, Nairn, Moray and Speyside, Easter Ross and Great Glenn, Caithness and Sutherland as well as Argyll and Bute and the Western Isles.