FLORIS FORCES HER WAY ACROSS SCOTLAND

HURRICANE-FORCE winds saw Storm Floris rip a path of destruction across Scotland yesterday, leaving thousands of homes without electricity and causing commuter chaos.

- Paul Drury and Richard Elias

Trains, planes and ferries were cancelled, while caravans and lorries were overturned as the gales wrought havoc on the country's roads.

For the first time in its 75-year history, the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo was cancelled last night due to the conditions. Wick in Caithness registered one of the highest wind speeds of the day with a gust of 82mph.

Tiree and South Uist recorded speeds of 75mph and 80mph.

However, even higher speeds were anticipated for last night.

The "unseasonably strong" winds led to a 12-hour amber weather warning for much of Scotland. Met Office forecaster Peter Sloss told BBC Radio Scotland that Storm Floris was a very unusual event in August.

He said: “We've had five named storms, since the naming process started a number of years ago in August.

“This one really is the most powerful of these storms that we’ve seen,” he said. The forecaster described the country as being in uncharted territory.

A gust of 82mph was recorded at Wick, Caithness, before 7pm — the strongest gust recorded in the UK yesterday, away from mountains.

Close to 30,000 customers had their power cut off during yesterday, mainly in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said 22,500 home across the north of Scotland were still without electricity.

However, it had restored power to about 5,500 customers since Monday morning.

Director of customer operations for the north of Scotland Andy Smith said: “Storm Floris is the strongest summer storm we’ve seen in a very long time and it’s causing significant disruption to power supplies today.