Storm Floris clear-up after power cuts and travel disruption

Thousands of homes are expected to spend a second night without power as the clean-up continues in the aftermath of Storm Floris.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored supplies to more than 65,000 homes but that 6,300 remained cut off.

Network Rail said teams had been working "tirelessly" to clear debris from tracks, following gusts of up to 90mph in some parts on Monday.

The operator said 31 out of 34 routes had now reopened, with some final checks being made.

There was widespread disruption across the UK on Monday including cancelled trains and flights, as well as road closures due to fallen trees.

A total of 119 incidents were reported on railway lines across Scotland, where an amber weather alert was in effect.

SSEN, which delivers electricity in the north of Scotland, said Floris was "the most damaging summer storm in recent memory" with thousands of properties hit in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Graeme Keddie, SSENs director of corporate affairs, told BBC Scotland News it had made "really good progress" restoring power.

"Storm Floris is clearly an exceptional storm," he said. "Wind speeds of 80mph in summer is more akin to wind speeds of 100mph in winter, in terms of the damage it can cause from fallen trees."

He said the "prolonged nature" of the storm led to the scale of damage caused, which was mainly tree-related.

"Today has really been about getting an accurate assessment of network damage," he said.

"Weve had helicopters out this morning doing aerial views of the worst affected circuits.

"Thats given us a clear plan of how we can restore power for customers and weve got an army of engineers doing so as we speak and will continue until every customer is restored."

He said there were 600 engineers out in the field on Tuesday and 200 more were travelling from other network areas which had not been as badly hit.

"It is going to take some time," he said.

"We expect to restore the vast majority of customers over Tuesday and Wednesday, but some customers will be without power until Thursday."

Mr Keddie added: "We will keep in touch with our customers. We are offering reimbursement for the cost of meals, up to £30 per person per day.

"People can contact us. We also have welfare vans offering hot food and drink at key points."

SSEN said free hot food and drinks would be provided on Tuesday in areas where homes were awaiting reconnection.

Confirmed food locations are:

The Scottish government held an emergency meeting on Monday night in response to the "significant disruption" caused by the storm.

Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance said the power cuts had affected a "significant" number of properties, and that the recovery period would take time despite an improving forecast over the rest of the week.

The Met Office has warned that a further period of unseasonable wet and windy weather is on the way late on Wednesday and into Thursday for those in north-western parts of the UK.

Network Rail reported 75 tree-related incidents across the network, including trees falling on to overhead lines at Kings Park in Glasgow, Cornton near Stirling and Bishopton near Paisley.

On Tuesday its focus switched to inspecting routes which had been closed by fallen trees, debris and other damage.

Flights and ferries had been suspended across Scotland on Monday and people were urged to avoid travel, with most of the countrys major road bridges closed to high-sided vehicles.

The roads affected on Monday included the A96 in Moray.

A large tree fell across the road near its junction to Burghead, but was cleared with the use of power saws and a lorry.

Freelance photographer Brian Smith said he understood that the lorry, which usually carried logs and had a crane attached, had been in the queue of traffic caused by the tree fall.

He added that joiners and a local man with a power saw had also helped to clear the road.

A number of events were cancelled on Monday, including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and about 110 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The SQA also warned that the weather would delay the delivery of exam results letters on Tuesday for pupils on Scotlands islands.