High winds brought by Storm Barbara are expected to disrupt Christmas travel plans across Scotland.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings covering the whole of the country from Thursday to Sunday.

The west and north of the country are expected to be worst hit, with gusts of up to 90mph.

A total of 37 Highlands and Islands flights have been cancelled or rescheduled on Friday and all 26 west coast ferry routes have been disrupted.

A number of sailings between Aberdeen, Shetland and Orkney have been cancelled.

Around 100 oil workers on platforms west of Shetland face being stranded offshore over Christmas.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has put in place seven flood alerts for areas across the country, including: Caithness, Orkney, Dumfriesshire, the Borders, Shetland, Skye and the Western Isles.

However, STV weatherman Sean Batty said there could be a small break in the weather on Christmas Eve afternoon.

"Storm Barbara is starting to form just east of Newfoundland and it's about 2000 miles away at the moment," he said.

"But within 24 hours it will be across the north and north west of Scotland and we can expect gusts of 70mph to 80mph with a risk of 90mph in the most exposed areas in the Western Isles and Shetland.

"The worst of the winds will come through for the Hebrides and the north west Highlands on Friday afternoon, with the strongest gusts moving towards the northern later in the afternoon and evening.

"Elsewhere we can expect gusts of wind of 60mph to 70mph, with the risk of 80mph along the exposed west coast."

Sean continued: "Barbara is also going to bring in a lot of rain, mostly in the first half of Friday, followed by high winds. The storm will then move away on Saturday but the winds will stay strong on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"For those who miss their ferries on Friday it looks as though there might be a window on Christmas Eve.

"In the morning it will still be very windy but from the afternoon until the evening it will quiet down. They'll pick up again on Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day, when we could see another peak."

More than 100 BEAR Scotland roads workers are on standby at depots across the north of Scotland ahead of Storm Barbara.

Spokesman Eddie Ross said: "We want everyone to stay safe during the festivities, so we advise motorists to be alert and prepare in advance for the adverse weather by checking travel information via the Traffic Scotland website and local radio before setting off, allowing extra time for journeys and driving to the conditions."

Dale Cargill, director of customer operations at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), said the organisation was preparing its teams for the weather.

"Although this is an early forecast and should be treated as such, we are well prepared for the bad weather," he said.

"We have front-line and support employees on standby and if there is damage to our network, our teams will be well-placed to get power restored to our customers as quickly and safely as possible.

"We will continue to monitor the weather situation as it develops over the coming days and keep our customers fully informed."

Lightning is also likely to hit the Western Isles over the weekend and upland areas of the western and central Highlands could have snowfall of up to 10cm.

Storm Barbara is only the second name designated this season, which began on October 1, after Storm Angus.

Storms are only named when they have the potential to cause a significant impact.

Last Christmas, Storm Frank brought widespread flooding to the north east and 171 households are yet to return to their homes in Aberdeenshire.