The north and north-east of Scotland faces a battering by winds of up to 90mph in the coming days as weather conditions across the country worsen.
Ferry operators have warned services to and from the western and northern isles could be cancelled at short notice today after the Met Office issued a yellow “be aware” warning for the regions.
Starting today, rain will move into Scotland from the west along with 40-50mph winds.
Two low pressure systems will also edge into Scotland at the weekend, bringing with them widespread gale-force gusts.
Forecasters say the north-west Highlands and exposed regions of the Western Isles could be hit by winds as strong as 90mph by the weekend.
Saturday is likely to bring the worst weather, with parts of the Highlands, Moray and the north-east facing winds in excess of 70mph.
However, ferry operator Calmac said its services leaving the mainland and islands would be “liable to disruption, delay or cancellation at short notice” today.
Northlink services from Aberdeen to Shetland may also be affected by today’s weather.
Met Office spokeswoman, Laura Young, said the yellow warning was likely to extend to a more severe amber “be prepared” warning by the weekend.
She added: “Wednesday will be wet and windy. This will continue throughout the day later in the evening.
“Thursday will actually be quite a clear day, however, as we go into the early hours of Friday morning basically we have got one very, very deep, low pressure in the north of Scotland and very strong gusts of wind.
“There’s a yellow warning on Friday until lunchtime for 60-70mph winds across the whole of Scotland.”
She went on: “Saturday will bring a larger system than Friday. The area it is going to affect is much larger.
“North Aberdeenshire and Moray are likely to see 70mph-plus winds.
“In the worst hit areas on the north-west coast and Shetland Islands some places could see 90mph.
“The main effects are going to be on things like transport. Strong gusts can take a little car off the road. People need to keep an eye on the weather forecast.”