100mph gales sweep across Scotland

Gales of up to 100mph were reported on high ground overnight, with gusts reaching almost 80mph in southern, western and central areas. More than 6cm of rain fell in exposed areas, with 3.8cm in other places.

Engineers were yesterday working to reconnect all 22,000 houses - mainly in Fife, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Argyll and Tayside - which had suffered power cuts.

However, their attempts were hampered by the continuing gales and around 10,000 homes were still without power during the day.

In the Strathclyde area alone, fire crews attended 144 separate incidents overnight, including reports of flooding, building fires, car crashes and damage to structures.

In Wemyss Bay, a man was rescued by firefighters after his car was engulfed in a giant wave and sent crashing through a barrier and on to the beach.

Mark Bradshaw, 35, was driving to his home in Skelmorlie from his job at the Hunterston Power Station at 11.30pm on Tuesday when the wave swept on to the road.

His car skidded, crashed off the road, flipped over, then came to rest on the beach. He was able to scramble through the smashed passenger door window and back up the sea wall to the road.

Mr Bradshaw, a father-of-three, said: "It is terrifying after the fact - at the time I didn't have a chance to think. If the car had hit the wall and bounced further back, or if I had been knocked out, I could have been dead.

"By the time the fire brigade came my car was submerged in water."

In another incident, a train driver escaped injury after his locomotive crashed into a tree which had fallen on to the track two miles north of New Cumnock, Ayrshire. The tree branch hit the windscreen, shattering glass over the driver.

In Dundee, three cars were flattened when gusts ripped off a section of the roof of student accommodation at Dundee University and sent it crashing 90ft on to the vehicles below.

The chunk of metal from Seabraes Hall was blown off at about 3am yesterday. No-one was injured but 12 students had to be evacuated from their flats.

Severe weather warnings for Orkney, Shetland, the Highlands, Grampian, Strathclyde, Central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, south-west Scotland and Lothian and Borders remained in force yesterday morning.

Barry Gromett, a spokesman for the Met Office, said winds had reached almost 80mph in central areas and 100mph in high areas such as the Cairngorms.

However, it was reported that winds of 140mph had been recorded at the mouth of the Cairngorm funicular railway tunnel.

Traffic Scotland also warned of major disruption to routes, with road closures including the A92 Tay Road Bridge, the Erskine Bridge and the A9 north of Inverness.

The Forth Road Bridge was closed to all traffic at 9.30am, leading to five-mile tailbacks at the alternative crossing at the Kincardine Bridge.

Network Rail imposed a 50mph speed limit on all lines on Tuesday night and again yesterday morning, while First ScotRail said that services were slowly getting back to normal.

Ferry services were also affected, with Stena Line cancelling all sailings between Stranraer and Belfast from 7pm on Tuesday until 9.55am yesterday.

Caledonian MacBrayne also reported "major disruption" to its ferry services for the duration of the storm.

Three return flights between Glasgow and London were cancelled, as were five between Edinburgh and London.

In the east end of Glasgow, roads were closed after part of the roof of the former Great Eastern Hotel was blown off, scattering debris around the surrounding area.

Pupils at Gryffe High in Houston, Renfrewshire, were told not to attend classes after the gales damaged the roof of the building. It was due to reopen today, along with St Paul's Primary in Paisley.

Meanwhile, more than 1200 pupils had an unexpected day off as all 12 schools in the Uists and Barra and 10 schools in the Highlands were shut.