Thousands of homes have been left without power and schools forced to close after a landslip.

The overhead line network on Skye was damaged around 9am on Tuesday morning, also affecting the Western Isles.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said electricity had been restored to around 10,000 homes, but said 13,000 properties were still without power.

A number of schools on Skye are closed, Highland Council said.

SSEN said: "SSEN would like to apologise to its customers on the Western Isles and in parts of Skye who are affected by a fault on itstransmission network, which occurred at 9am this morning.

"The fault is due to a landslip that damaged the overhead line network on Skye.

"We are currently restoring supplies from available back-up generation sites, including Battery Point power station on Lewis.

"Power is being restored in stages and the majority of customers will be reconnected through the course of this morning.

"If any customers require extra assistance or priority support, please call SSEN on the power cut helpline, 105."