Storm Abigail leaves 1,000 properties without power

Around 1,000 properties suffered power cuts during the night as storm Abigail hit the isles.

A spokesman for SSE said most of the outages, mostly in central Shetland, were caused by lightning strikes rather than wind, which gusted up to near hurricane force at times.

According to the SIC’s Roads Weather Station website the strongest winds were in Unst where there were gusts of up to 68mph this morning. For the latest forecasts and graphics see The Shetland Times’ weather page.

Engineers are working on getting power restored to the affected properties in the Quarff, Brindister, Gulberwick, Gott, Tingwall and Weisdale areas. Power is expected to be restored to half the properties by 10.30am, with the rest by noon.

Meanwhile, there have been no flights in and out of Shetland this morning. The first flights to and from Aberdeen were cancelled, and other arrivals to and from Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and Kirkwall have all been delayed.

At Scatsta all flights, fixed wing and helicopters, have been cancelled for the whole day.

NorthLink’s ferry Hjaltland, which was due into Shetland this morning, remains in Kirkwall, and there will be no sailing tonight.

The next arrival into Lerwick will be tomorrow morning, and tomorrow’s departure at 7pm will go direct to Aberdeen.

Inter-island ferries have also been affected, with a reduced service to Whalsay, and the Yell Sound run down to a single vessel.

The Bressay and Skerries services have been suspended, and the Bluemull Sound run is expected to resume later this morning.

Fair Isle weather man Dave Wheeler said the unsettled weather would continue for a few days, with winds easing later tomorrow and into Sunday but picking up to southeasterly gales on Sunday night.