Storm Gertrude wreaked havoc in the Highlands and islands – and the region is now bracing itself for Storm Henry to sweep in.
The wintry blast at the weekend caused chaos for travellers and knocked out emergency phone lines in the northern isles.
Among those whose plans were blown off course were Ross County fans trying to get to Hampden to see their team take on Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup.
The Inverness to Glasgow train was cancelled because of wind and snow and heavy falls also caused major delays on the A9 at the Drumochter Pass near Dalwhinnie.
As traffic queued both northbound and southbound, police advised motorists to avoid the area if possible.
The storm caused the loss of phone services, including the emergency 999 line at Longhope in Orkney.
A brief lull in the wind yesterday allowed ferry operator CalMac to catch up with some of its disrupted timetable, but more delays and cancellations are expected today.
The Met Office has issued an amber “be prepared” warning for high winds, with gusts of up to 90mph expected between 3pm today and 9am tomorrow.
The wind speeds could lead to restrictions or closures of some of the key bridges on the trunk road network and disruption across other parts of the transport network, including ferries.
Transport Scotland is working with partner organisations, including Police Scotland and transport operators, to try to mitigate the impact of the conditions.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said last night: “A wide range of agencies and organisations have their response plans in place to help mitigate the effects of this latest set of conditions but there is every likelihood of some disruption to the transport network in the coming few days.
“The wintry weather is forecast to deteriorate tomorrow with the arrival of Storm Henry which carries an amber alert for high winds from Monday afternoon continuing through the peak on Tuesday morning.
“Our Multi-Agency Response Team, based at the National Traffic Scotland Control Centre which has been in operation throughout the weekend will remain in place to monitor events and respond as required.
“Our fleet of patrol vehicles and gritters are treating roads where needed around the clock to help keep roads open to traffic, but quickly changing conditions means journeys could be disrupted.
“As always we would ask the public to play their part by listening to the latest weather forecasts and plan their journeys accordingly.
“With wet and windy conditions continuing and wind speeds expected to be as high as 90mph in some more exposed places, people should continue to check reports and take the latest police advice before setting off.”
ScotRail said that train services would continue to be disrupted, with some services only operating until early afternoon today.
Routes expected to be affected include Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and the West Highland Line.
Jacqueline Taggart, ScotRail Alliance customer experience director, said: “Once again we find ourselves preparing for extreme weather conditions hitting the country.
“Last week Storm Gertrude brought incredibly high winds and treacherous conditions to Scotland – and it looks as though Storm Henry is going to do the same.
“I would really urge people to look at their travel plans for the whole day. We will be running services in the morning that, due to Storm Henry, we will be unable to run in the afternoon.
“Our absolute priority during these extreme conditions is safety. We will do everything we can to keep people moving, but we have to make sure that the trains we can run do so safely.”
