Heavy rain and gusts are battering parts of Scotland in the wake of Storm Gareth.

A weather warning for wind has been put in place for western and south-western areas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gales of 80mph are expected as well as a risk of homes flooding and power cuts across the country.

Storm Gareth is due to hit areas including South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Islay and Kintyre on Tuesday night.

As the storm arrives, heavy rain and gusts are already affecting areas including Dumfries where Whitesands was flooded with fairground rides being damaged as water flowed into car parks.

The Tay Bridge has been shut to double deckers with a 30mph speed restriction in place.

In the Borders, the B712 was closed due to flooding while Calmac reported disruption on a wide range of ferry services.

STV weather presenter Sean Batty said: "At midday today Storm Gareth will be centred about 150 miles north west of the Western Isles, but the strongest winds will be experienced on the southern side of the storm, putting the Hebrides in the direct line for those.

"Gales will develop across most of the country by late afternoon, although these will ease in the far north later.

"The winds will peak during the evening and overnight across central, southern and western parts of the country with severe gales around the Inner Hebrides."

The strongest gusts will be seen across Tiree, Coll, Mull, Jura, Islay, Kintyre and Arran, reaching 80mph.

Records could also be broken in Islay, with the fastest ever speed being recorded in 1999.

Sean added: "Wind gusts could reach 55 to 60mph in central and southern Scotland, including the Central Belt.

"Along the west coast of the Highlands, Argyll, Ayrshire and western Dumfries and Galloway, maximum gusts are expected to reach around 70mph.

"The strongest gusts will be across Tiree, Coll, Mull, Jura, Islay, Kintyre and Arran where winds could reach around 80mph for a time.

"While the Hebrides are no stranger to windy conditions, it's actually quite rare to get winds gusting over 75mph in March.

"In Tiree for example, I can only see seven occasions where the winds have gusted in excess of 75mph in March since the late 70s.

"In Islay there have been no gusts over 75mph in March since records began in 1999."

The strong winds will then move northwards, affecting areas including Aberdeenshire and Moray by the end of the week.

Sean added: "The strong winds will slowly ease into Wednesday, but gales will last until after lunchtime across central and southern areas. Gales will then redevelop across the Hebrides and south west on Wednesday evening.

"Another deep low pressure system will cross the north, almost on a similar track to Gareth on Friday.

"This will again bring severe gales to some areas, although the main risk from those looks like being a bit further north across Skye, the Western Isles, north Highlands and potentially Moray and north Aberdeenshire.

"On Friday, some strong gusts, up to 60mph may be experienced around Edinburgh and the Borders.

"There are some signs that the weather will settle a little more during next week with high pressure building from the south."