Third storm in a week brings new wind warning as Western Isles schools shut and Orkney causeways close

Scotland is facing a third spell of stormy weather in a week, with a new yellow wind warning in force across most of the country as thousands of homes remain without power after Storm Boelo.

The Met Office warning, which also covers parts of northern England and Northern Ireland, came into effect at 3am on Tuesday and runs until 9pm. The latest weather system has not been named and is not expected to be as disruptive as storms Austen and Boelo. The next name on this season's storm list is Chloe.

Power still off for thousands

On Monday evening, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said engineers were still working to reconnect about 8,600 homes in the north of Scotland. SP Energy Networks said all but a very small number of the 50,000 customers who lost power in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway would be back on supply by 2am on Tuesday.

Almost 100,000 homes had their power restored across the two network areas over the weekend.

Schools closed

All schools and nurseries in the Western Isles will be shut until Wednesday at the earliest. Ellon Academy remains closed after storm damage, and Banchory Academy is shut because of a problem with the building and is expected to reopen on Wednesday.

In the Highlands, 30 primary schools and six secondary schools are fully or partly closed. In Dumfries and Galloway, the Lockerbie Campus, including Lockerbie Academy, the primary school and nursery, is closed because of a heating failure, and schools in St John's Town of Dalry have not opened because of roof damage.

Trains, ferries and flights

ScotRail says the vast majority of services are running normally, but speed restrictions are in place until 4pm on Tuesday on several routes because of heavy rain. These include Glasgow Queen Street to Oban and Mallaig, Glasgow Central to Largs, Glasgow Queen Street to Helensburgh Central, Ayr to Stranraer, Glasgow and Edinburgh to Inverness, Aberdeen to Inverness, Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverness to Wick and Thurso.

CalMac warned that many sailings may be disrupted or cancelled at short notice, and NorthLink said disruption is possible until Thursday. Loganair said flights at all Scottish airports had been affected, with some cancelled.

Flooding and road closures

Sepa has an amber flood risk in place for the Northern and Western Isles and Caithness and Sutherland, and warned of large waves on the Solway Firth and Firth of Clyde. Highland Council closed the flood gates on the Caol and Lochyside flood scheme near Fort William.

In Orkney, police closed the Churchill Barriers, the causeways linking the mainland to South Ronaldsay, Burray, Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. The main road through St Mary's in Holm was also closed by flooding.

In West Dunbartonshire, Dumbarton Golf Club was left almost completely under water after the River Leven burst its banks on Sunday.

Search off Largs

In Largs, an extensive search was carried out overnight after a person was reportedly swept out to sea near Burnlea Road. The coastguard has suspended the search pending new information.

A 60-year-old man died after being hit by a falling tree near Castle Douglas on Sunday, and tributes have been paid to him.

Police Scotland warned that disruption is likely to continue because of the further bad weather, fallen trees and damage left by the storms.