Severe weather conditions have cancelled all sailings between Arran and the mainland.
CalMac sailings between Brodick and Ardrossan have been cancelled for the remainder of today (Wednesday), with sailings suspended up to and including the 3.20pm sailing from Ardrossan on Thursday.
A CalMac update on Wednesday afternoon said: “Due to adverse weather forecast, all sailings are cancelled on this route. This is due to strong winds gusting between 60 – 70mph.
“We are in the process of contacting all customers who will be affected by this disruption.”
The ferry operator plans to carry our a review on Thursday’s other sailings at 3pm, with Storm Pia expected to bring winds reaching 80mph overnight.
Meanwhile, sailings between Lochranza and Tarbert are still running, but they have also all been cancelled on Thursday.
CalMac’s head of operations, Finlay MacRae said: “While we can’t control the impact from weather, we do have a committed team working hard to reduce the impact on our communities and customers wherever we can.
“Our crew will monitor the situation and respond to limited weather windows by operating untimetabled services whenever they can do so safely.
“We are continually reviewing options to ensure the best service possible for customers and communities during this period and we fully appreciate how difficult this can be, especially during the holiday period.
“CalMac continues to work with local communities to ensure their priorities around the transportation of goods and services are understood and supported, and dedicated frontline staff are talking to our regular customers daily to make sure that, where possible, essential goods and services are being moved.”
Service updates are available from the CalMac website or from the ferry operator’s X (formerly Twitter) page.
The ferry operator is also urging passengers to and travel earlier, with potential disruption expected on Christmas Eve (Sunday) as well.
Network Rail also plans to impose speed restrictions on some Central Belt, South-west Scotland and cross-border routes.
The Met Office has put in place a yellow weather warning for the whole of Scotland for high winds from 12am on Thursday until 9pm on Thursday.
It has forecasted that “strong winds are likely to affect a wide area through Thursday, potentially causing some travel disruption.”
Yellow weather warnings also generally mean there could be minor damage to buildings, power cuts, injuries from flying debris and potential road closures.
However, the Met Office has also said: “There is a small chance that injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.”