A weather system which will bring heavy showers and gusts of up to 70mph to Scotland has been named Storm Hector.

The storm will hit the west of Ireland on Wednesday before sweeping north across Scotland on Thursday.

Met Éireann named the storm on Wednesday morning.

From Wednesday night, winds will start to strengthen in the north-west, with gales developing across the Western Isles and moving to all areas of Scotland overnight.

There is likely to be travel disruption, and some trees may also be damaged by the high winds.

There may be flooding in some areas, following the weeks of sunshine Scotland has enjoyed.

CalMac has cancelled several ferry services on Thursday morning.

The ferry operator cancelled three morning services from Brodick and Ardrossan, ahead of what is expected to be "widespread disruption".

STV's weather presenter Sean Batty said: "Storm Hector as of Thursday morning is around 600 miles west of Ireland and tracking north east.

"He will bring his strongest winds to the west of Ireland on Wednesday night with gusts around 75mph possible on the Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Sligo coast.

"The strongest winds will then move towards central, southern and western Scotland on Thursday morning, then slowly drift north through the day, reaching the Northern Isles late afternoon and evening.

"Winds across Scotland could gust 50-60mph, but a risk of 70mph in the more exposed parts of the north and west, hills, islands and coasts."

He continued: "Heavy rain will fall ahead of the arrival of Storm Hector during Wednesday night, with as much as 80mm falling in some parts to the west Highlands.

"Because the weather has been so dry recently, the ground is now hardened, making it more difficult for the rain water to soak in.

"This may lead to some minor surface water issues, with large puddles developing and plenty of surface water on the roads."