A man and a woman were seriously injured in a rush hour crash on the A9 involving two vans and a car toay.
A second man received slight injuries while a third was uninjured.
The 8.45am crash happened about one mile north of Tomich Junction near Invergordon.
The driver of a grey Renault van, who was travelling north, was said to be in a serious but non life-threatening condition in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.
A man and woman, believed to be tourists from England and travelling south in a white Volkswagen Polo, were also taken to Raigmore.
The woman was flown in by helimed shortly before 10am with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Her companion was conveyed by road ambulance with minor injuries.
A man driving the third vehicle, a grey Vauxhall Astra van, which was heading in a south, did not require medical treatment. The van suffered minor damage to it’s rear.
The crash closed the road for just under three hours
Police closed the road straight away to allow paramedics and doctors to help those with serious injuries on to stretchers and to enable police to carry out a full crash investigation.
Initially, traffic from both sides of the collision was diverted via a single track back road by Delny Muir. This caused short hold ups with lorries encountering cars along the single track road.
Traffic coming from both sides was later diverted via Saltburn Road, through Invergordon, and back on to the A9.
The road was re-opened at approximately 11.40am.
PC Donna MacLeod, from the divisional road policing unit in Dingwall. She said: “The collision occurred between a northbound van and two southbound vehicles. Inquiries are continuing.
“We think it is serious injuries at this time to two people.”
Police are encouraging anyone who witnessed the crash to contact police on 101.