Hurricane-force winds leave 60,000 homes without electricity

A staggering 60,000 homes were left without power last night as hurricane-force winds caused chaos throughout large parts of Scotland, bringing destruction across the country. Wind speeds of 124mph were recorded in the Western Isles as the most damaging storms for more than a decade swept in from the Atlantic. Engineers have been working frantically to reconnect tens of thousands of homes left in darkness, but power companies said the storms have been hampering their work. With the winds wreaking havoc with power supplies, the Scottish Executive said it had been advised that the number of homes affected could rise.

Speaking to The Scotsman a spokeswoman for Scottish Hydro Electric said: "We have extra engineers ready, we have helicopters on standby, we have additional call handlers available in our emergency centre and additional control engineers in the control room to manage operations. We are preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. We will just have to batten down the hatches and wait and see what happens."