Thousands of homes remain without power and motorists and rail passengers face continued disruption after Storm Gerrit battered the country.
Engineers are working to restore power to around 14,000 customers, though Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution warned some could be without supply into Friday.
High winds, heavy rain and snow damaged electricity networks in some parts of the country while a Met Office yellow weather warning was in force across much of Scotland throughout Wednesday.
SSEN said its workers have faced wind speeds of 80mph in some coastal areas as they worked to reconnect customers.
⚠️ @NetworkRailSCOT route proving will now begin on lines impacted by #StormGerrit. Checking for any concerns and ensuring the line is clear of debris before our services can safely resume.
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) December 28, 2023
The lines listed below are currently closed whilst these essential checks take place. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fKTaFfdjVa
The weather conditions also disrupted travel, with some drivers trapped for hours on the A9 which was closed at Drumtocher in the Highlands due to snow.
The A9 has since reopened apart from a section further north at Scrabster, however some roads around the country remain shut on Thursday morning, including the A82 between Invergarry and Fort Augustus in the Highlands and the A96 at Huntly, Aberdeenshire.
On the railways, many routes remain closed and will not reopen until safety checks have been carried out.
Network Rail Scotland said the routes affected are the Far North and Kyle Line, Aberdeen to Dundee, Edinburgh to Cupar, Aberdeen to Inverness, Balloch to Bowling and Largs to Fairlie routes, as well as the Highland Mainline and West Highland Lines.
The company said: “Once a line has been fully checked and is confirmed safe to reopen, we will do this right away, allowing services to resume as quickly as possible.”
0900hrs UPDATE - after an early morning start clearing debris, ferry passengers make their way from the morning ferry with minimal delay. A huge Well done team!@trafficscotland @NLFerries @scrabsterport @PSOSHighland https://t.co/YPWbR42B80
— BEAR NW Trunk Roads (@NWTrunkRoads) December 28, 2023
SSEN said that as of 7.45am on Thursday, supplies had been restored to just over 31,500 homes, while about 14,000 remained without power
It apologised to customers who saw their supplies disrupted and said engineers are working to reconnect them as soon as possible.
Director of corporate affairs Graeme Keddie told BBC Radio Scotland: “Many of those are in the north-east and Shetland which saw later impact into yesterday afternoon and evening, and that will be very much our priority through the course of today.
“One of the main impacts we’ve seen is around access to faults – so blocked roads, flooding in fields, and issues with snow.
“We’re very hopeful that that will ease today, but that has meant our teams on the ground have been saying that in the time it’d take to fix two or three faults they have only been able to fix one, but we are hopeful of further progress today as weather conditions have eased.”
Asked how long it will be before power is restored to all customers in Scotland, he said: “Based on the impact, particularly in the north-east, we do believe that some customers, particularly in areas that have been impacted heavily or rural locations, will be into Friday.”
Storm Gerrit giving a dull and wet day for most of the UK.
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 28, 2023
Check out the day's extremes below ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/swwJtTxKHz
Stein Connelly, head of transport resilience at Transport Scotland, urged people to plan ahead when travelling.
He said: “It’s been an extremely challenging period for the transport network. The partnership response to Storm Gerrit continues and our trunk road operating companies are working hard to open roads as soon as possible.
“On the A96 at Huntly, the road remains closed in both directions due to flooding, with teams continuing to work to clear the water this morning.
“Fallen trees are still impacting the A82 between Fort Augustus and Invergarry, with the clearance effort still under way.
“The weather has improved and the Met Office warnings have ended, but people may still encounter difficult driving conditions due to surface water and flooding.
“We continue to ask people to plan ahead, to drive appropriately and to take care out on the road network.
“Public transport services remain impacted, so please check with your transport operator across all modes to understand if your service has been cancelled or delayed.”
