RESIDENTS have been warned to batten down the hatches as more stormy weather heads west.

Forecasters said today would be the calm before the storm as weather warnings were issued for heavy rain and strong winds in Glasgow tomorrow.

The Met Office has issued Yellow 'be aware' warnings for the area and gusts of up to 60mph are expected to batter the city along with torrential rain.

It will be a repeat of conditions on Christmas Eve when 60mph gusts were recorded in Glasgow and strong winds across the country caused problems for Christmas travellers.

Helen Rossington, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, warned motorists to take care on the roads as wind and rain could bring standing water and spray.

She said: "Tomorrow is going to be cloudy with a few showers but a few sunny spells as well.

"There is another band of low pressure moving north west past western Scotland bringing strong winds of around 50 to 60mph.

"The winds are expected to increase overnight and into Friday.

"They will be particularly strong after midnight through into Friday morning and it could be strong in the afternoon.

"There will be some rain with that. It will be heavy for a time but should be quick-moving and not cause many problems. Over an inch is expected to fall in 24 hours."

The highest recorded gusts last night were 82mph in Peterhead, 77mph in Inverbervie and 75mph on South Uist.

Many flood warnings remain in place, particularly for Tayside where river levels have been high.

Around 800 homes in Scotland were without power on Christmas morning with Elgin, Aberdeenshire and communities in the Northern and Western Isles worst affected.

Tragedy has struck in the run-up to Christmas Day, with the bad weather thought to have contributed to a number of deaths.

Three people died in fast-moving water including a man in Cumbria, a 48-year-old from Lancaster, and a woman in North Wales.

A woman in Shropshire, a man in Cornwall and a man in Ireland died in car crashes.

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk