Rail services in the north and north-east have been cancelled as Scotland braces itself for a weekend of hurricane-like weather.
Winds in excess of 100mph are expected in regions of the Highlands, western and northern isles with gusts of more than 70mph forecast in the north-east and Moray.
A Met Office amber “be prepared” warning will be in place from 10pm tonight until 10am tomorrow in regions of Scotland as the foul weather moves in.
ScotRail and Network Rail trains running between Aberdeen, Inverness, Wick and Thurso tomorrow morning have been called off due to the forecast conditions
Trains running between Glasgow, Oban, Fort William and Mallaig – including tonight’s Caledonian Sleeper – have also been cancelled.
These routes are predicted to bear the brunt of the stormy weather, which rail operators fear could cause serious damage to rail infrastructure.
No trains will run on these lines – some of which could be battered by winds of up to 110mph – until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.
A Network Rail spokesman said the action had been taken “as a safety precaution”.
The worst of Friday’s stormy weather is expected between 6am and 8am tomorrow, and all rail lines will have to be inspected before travel is allowed.
All other Scottish rail services are expected to operate, however Network Rail and ScotRail have warned of the potential for further disruptions.
A yellow “be aware” warning will be enforced from today until Saturday, with forecasters warning of the likelihood of this being upgraded to amber again at the weekend.
Network Rail’s route managing director for Scotland, David Dickson, said: “Safety has to be our first consideration during severe weather.
“We will be withdrawing a limited number of services until the worst of the storm has passed to allow our engineers to thoroughly inspect the network for any damage.
“We will be monitoring conditions on the ground closely throughout the night and into the morning and will have teams ready to respond to any issues caused by the storm.
“We are working closely with the train operators, and other industry partners, to reduce disruption as much as possible while also operating a safe network for passengers.”
Engineers will be on-call to react to any issues on affected lines.
Limited replacement buses are expected to be available.