Thousands of homes are still without power as the clean-up continues in the aftermath of Storm Floris.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored supplies to 50,000 homes but that 22,000 remained without power at 08:00 on Tuesday.

Network Rail said teams had been working “tirelessly” to clear debris from tracks, following gusts of up to 90mph in some parts on Monday.

The operator said 30 out of 34 routes had now reopened, with some final checks being made.

There was widespread disruption across the UK on Monday including cancelled trains and flights and road closures due to fallen trees.

A total of 119 incidents were reported on train lines across Scotland, where an amber weather alert was in effect.

SSEN, which delivers electricity in the north of Scotland, said Floris was “the most damaging summer storm in recent memory” with thousands of properties hit in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Graeme Keddie, SSEN’s director of corporate affairs, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme it had made “good progress” restoring power.

“I think Storm Floris was unusual both in terms of time of year but also the prolonged nature and that has caused impact across the network,” he said.

“It’s mainly tree-related damage. We have helicopters going out and we’ve also got line patrols just to look at some of those areas where we’ve got multiple points of damage just to look at how complex the repairs will be.”

He said there were 500 engineers out in the field on Tuesday and more were travelling from other network areas which had not been as badly hit.

“Of the 22,000 we’d look to get the vast majority of customers back on by this evening,” he said.

“But given the complexity and the nature of the impact, we do expect some to be restored on Wednesday and even in localised and single supply, into Thursday.”

Mr Keddie added: “We will keep in touch with our customers. We are offering reimbursement for the cost of meals, up to £30 per person per day. People can contact us. We also have welfare vans offering hot food and drink at key points.”

SSEN said free hot food and drinks would be provided on Tuesday in areas where homes were awaiting reconnection.

Confirmed food locations are:

• DINGWALL – Maryburgh Hub Hall
• HUNTLY – Market Muir Car Park
• WICK – Bilbster Hall
• LAIRG – Village car park
• KYLE OF LOCHALSH – Lochalsh Leisure Centre

The Scottish government held an emergency meeting on Monday night in response to the “significant disruption” caused by the storm.

Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance said the power cuts had affected a “significant” number of properties, and that the recovery period would take time despite an improving forecast over the rest of the week.

The Met Office has warned that a further period of unseasonable wet and windy weather is on the way late on Wednesday and into Thursday for those in north-western parts of the UK.

Network Rail reported 75 tree-related incidents across the network, including trees falling on to overhead lines at King’s Park in Glasgow, Cornton near Stirling and Bishopton near Paisley.

On Tuesday its focus switched to inspecting routes which had been closed by fallen trees, debris and other damage.

Flights and ferries had been suspended across Scotland on Monday and people were urged to avoid travel, with most of the country’s major road bridges closed to high-sided vehicles.

The roads affected on Monday included the A96 in Moray.

A large tree fell across the road near its junction to Burghead, but was cleared with the use of power saws and a lorry.

Freelance photographer Brian Smith said he understood that the lorry, which usually carried logs and had a crane attached, had been in the queue of traffic caused by the tree fall.

He added that joiners and a local man with a power saw had also helped to clear the road.

A number of events were cancelled on Monday, including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and about 110 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The SQA also warned that the weather would delay the delivery of exam results letters on Tuesday for pupils on Scotland’s islands.