Thousands still without power after Storm Boelo batters Scotland

Thousands of homes across Scotland remain without power while the Met Office has issued a new weather warning in the aftermath of Storm Boelo.

A 60-year-old man died as the second named storm in a matter of days brought heavy flooding and wind gusts in some areas of up to 85mph (137km/h).

Richard Baines, the long-serving curator of Logan Botanic Garden near Stranraer, is understood to have been walking near his home in Mid Kelton, just outside Castle Douglas, when he was hit by a falling tree.

Elsewhere, despite widespread travel disruption across the weekend, Network Rail said most services had been restored to full operation after an amber weather warning ended at 21:00 on Sunday.

A yellow warning for wind covering the south west of Scotland came into effect at 18:00 on Monday and runs until 03:00 on Tuesday.

A separate yellow wind warning, covering most of the country as well as parts of northern England and Northern Ireland, runs from 03:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said it had put an amber risk of flooding in place for the Northern and Western Isles and Caithness and Sutherland.

Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN), which covers the north of Scotland, said work was ongoing to reconnect the supplies of about 15,000 homes which remained without power.

Meanwhile, Scottish Power Energy Networks (Spen) said about 500 homes in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway were without supply.

They said most would be reconnected on Monday, but a "very small number" would remain without power into Tuesday.

Almost 100,000 homes had power restored in both areas across the weekend.

Nik Wheeler, SSEN head of customer operations, told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme that work to reconnect homes before the impact of conditions on Tuesday was ongoing.

But he said he could not guarantee that would happen in time.

The Met Office said gusts of up to 65mph (105km/h) would hit coastal communities in the south west on Monday evening.

Forecasters added strong winds would be accompanied by heavy rain at certain points.

More than a dozen primary schools in Aberdeenshire and Rothiemay Primary School, in Moray, were closed on Monday due to a lack of power.

Ellon Academy was shut as a result of damage caused by the storm, and will remain closed on Tuesday.

All schools and nurseries in the Western Isles will also be shut until Wednesday at the earliest.

Twelve primary schools and nine nurseries across the Highlands are also subject to full or partial closures.

Network Rail said the Crianlarich to Oban and Inverness to Wick and Thurso lines remained closed, but work to restore them was ongoing.

They said the West Highland Line, Kyle of Lochalsh, and Highland Main Line would be subject to speed restrictions on Tuesday morning.

ScotRail said the "vast majority" of its services were running as normal.

However, it warned that speed restrictions would be in place on on several routes until 16:00 on Tuesday due to heavy rainfall. They are:

• Glasgow Queen Street – Oban/Mallaig
• Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh
• Glasgow Queen Street/Edinburgh Waverley – Inverness
• Aberdeen – Inverness
• Glasgow Central – Largs
• Glasgow Queen Street – Helensburgh Central
• Ayr – Stranraer
• Inverness – Wick/Thurso

West coast ferry operator CalMac said 28 of its 30 its services were facing disruption on Monday, with some subject to cancellation.

Passengers on NorthLink Ferries were advised that there is the "possibility of disruption" to services from until Thursday because of the weather.

A businessowner devastated by flooding in Largs, North Ayrshire, told government minister Stephen Flynn that those affected need "action rather than apologies".

Toni Dawson, who owns Geraldo's ice cream shop, challenged the transport secretary when he visited the town to see the impact.

Speaking outside her shop, Flynn said: "I'm sorry you've had to experience this."

Dawson replied: "With all due respect, I don't need apologies I need action, we need action. The devastation to homeowners and businesses is just unnecessary.

"What's actually being done to address the drains, to look at plans for coastal sea wall defences?

"We are the ones who keep having to clean up the aftermath."

Ann Wiseman described the situation in the Aberdeenshire coastal village of Crovie as "pretty scary".

She told Radio Scotland Breakfast that sandbags were unable to keep the water out as giant waves crashed against the roofs of properties.

Wiseman said: "There was not a window in the house that did not leak. There was just so much water."

She added: "It hasn't been this bad for well over 20 years."

Sepa said areas of the southwest and Argyll, including the Solway Firth and Firth of Clyde, would experience volatile conditions, with large waves and strong winds.

They said flooding of low-lying land was likely.

In Shetland, Sepa warned "storm surges" could lead to waves overlapping in coastal areas, with the possibility of debris being displaced onto roads.

They said damage to properties near he shoreline was possible.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called to pump a "huge volume of water" away from a care home in Saltcoats on Sunday everning.

Dozens of alerts were issued across the country during the weekend and flooding also closed a number of roads, including the A78 Inverkip Road in Greenock; the A77 at Lendalfoot in Ayrshire; and several in Dumfries and Galloway.

Two women were injured by a falling tree near Aberfeldy Footbridge, also known as the "bouncy bridge", in Perth and Kinross, and taken to hospital for treatment.

In South Ayrshire, police evacuated dangerous buildings in Ayr and helped 15 people stuck at a flooded caravan park in Ballantrae.

The Galloway Mountain Rescue Team said it was called out to help a runner suffering from a leg injury off Curleywee Hill at about 11:00 on Sunday.

The runner was competing in a two-day original mountain marathon event which began at Talnotry in Kirkcudbrightshire despite the conditions.

Fellow competitors had helped to splint the injured party's leg before the mountain rescue team reached the area at about 15:15.

They said "extreme winds" had forced a coastguard helicopter initially called out to turn back, however a descent in difficult conditions meant the runner did not reach an ambulance at the bottom of the hill until 20:45 – about nine hours after the initial call out.

Police Scotland said a high risk of disruption remained with poor weather conditions expected on Monday and Tuesday.

Officers advised people to "remain focused and vigilant" and consider whether journeys are "really necessary".

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said that although the amber weather warning was no longer in place disruption was "likely well beyond that due to further poor weather, fallen trees and other damage caused by the storm".

Although the 24-hour amber warning was not unprecedented, it was unusual because of the length of time it was in place over a wide geographical area.

The forecast triggered a meeting of the Scottish government's resilience room, which ensures the country is prepared for severe weather events, on Friday and again on Sunday.

Social justice and housing secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, who attended the meeting, told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast there were "challenges ahead" due to the prolonged nature of the conditions.

She urged councils to review their readiness, adding authorities were working to ensure that "everything that can be done is being done".

Somerville also said that everyone can play a part by getting "households as resilient as we can, as well as looking after neighbours and friends".