Weather warnings as Storm Conor to arrive on Christmas Day

Power has been restored to over 20,000 homes in Scotland after storm Barbara brought high winds and disrupted travel - but a new storm is brewing.

Conor is forecast to sweep over parts of the country through Christmas Day and Boxing Day, bringing further misery for travellers.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that by Saturday morning engineers had restored power to more than 21,000 homes.
Image Caption:Porthcawl, Wales, as Storm Barbara hits the country

All 13,000 customers whose households were affected by a lightning strike in Lewis and Harris have been reconnected within two hours.

However, 762 customers remain without power on the islands of Lewis, Jura and Shetland.

At its height Storm Barbara brought wind speeds of more than 80mph and lightning strikes across the north west of Scotland and the Western Isles.

Difficult conditions and warnings remain in place for Christmas Eve.
Image Caption:The sunrise over Bingham, Nottinghamshire

The Met Office has issued yellow "be aware" warnings for Scotland's central belt and northwards on Saturday.

The most frequent snow showers are expected to fall north of the Central Belt, with 5-10cm of snow possible on higher ground.

ScotRail said it planned to run services as scheduled on Christmas Eve with the possibility of some minor alterations, and ferry services remain subject to cancellations and revised schedules.

But there could be a north/south split over the festive weekend and Boxing Day.

The southeast is forecast to enjoy a mild Christmas Day, possibly with record temperatures.

But elsewhere weather warnings are in place as Conor is expected to bring more high winds and a risk of lightning to the Western Isles, north-west Highlands, Orkney and Shetland.

Dean Hall, a Met Office forecaster, said: "For Christmas Eve there is a north/south split across the UK.

"We still have very gusty, squally conditions across much of Scotland and the north of England and Northern Ireland with further showers, some heavy at times and turning wintry over higher ground."

He added: "England and Wales will get away with a much drier and brighter day."