Thousands of people across Scotland have been left without power as a violent storm has started to sweep across the country.

Almost all schools have been closed and transport services have been shut down in preparation for Storm Éowyn, with gusts of up to 100mph forecast.

A large chunk of the central belt and south west is covered by a red “danger to life” warning for wind from 10:00 until 17:00 – which has been extended to include much of Dumfries and Galloway. The rest of the country is covered by an amber alert and will experience significant disruption.

SSEN said they had restored power to 6,568 homes in Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, but 2,621 were “off supply”.

The energy supplier said they had increased their response teams to “10 times the usual levels” but warned further disruption to supplies was likely throughout the day.

The storm could be the most destructive to hit Scotland’s central belt in 13 years.

People have been urged not to travel with danger from flying debris, coastal overtopping, power cuts, fallen trees and damage to buildings.

A gust of 87mph was recorded earlier on Friday at Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway, while in Glasgow, early wind speeds were about 66mph.

SSEN said 170,000 vulnerable customers had been sent text messages giving them advice on how to prepare.

In parts of the Borders, the supplier warned reports of power cuts shortly before 08:00 were unlikely to be repaired until about 23:45 on Friday.

Ferries, flights and rail services have been cancelled, while Police Scotland has launched a dedicated operation to support those who are now stranded after booking onto sea crossings.

Police Scotland said the A1 was closed between the Spott Roundabout and Cockburnspath due to a “number of overturned vehicles”.

Roads were empty in the early hours of Friday with conditions already blustery and raining in parts. Sepa has issued a number of flood warnings for western areas and Dumfries and Galloway.

The whole of Northern Ireland is covered by another red alert and thousands there are also without power.

Scotland’s deputy first minister Kate Forbes told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that it was “so important” that people did not take risks in the weather.

She added that it was “important expectations are managed” regarding the aftermath of the storm, with disruption likely to continue into Saturday.

Forbes said that businesses and shops have a “responsibility to keep workforces safe” in the weather and should consider whether to close.

ScotRail suspended all services on Friday, saying it would “not be safe to operate passenger services” due to the conditions.

The operator’s communications director, David Ross, told Good Morning Scotland: “The big risk is objects falling onto the line, for example trees trapping trains.

“Given the conditions across the country it would be very difficult to access trapped trains, whether through the road conditions or other objects on the line preventing rescue. It just wouldn’t be safe.”

Network Rail advised those with garden furniture or trampolines to ensure they are tied down to avoid further debris blowing on to tracks.

Edinburgh Airport said flights would not operate during the weather warning, warning passengers that schedules would be disrupted into the weekend.

A handful of flights were able to take off and land this morning but the impact of the storm has already resulted in 158 cancellations.

One flight from London Stansted attempted to land several times before abandoning its approach and diverting to Cologne, Germany, about 762 miles (1,226km) away.

Glasgow Airport is operating a limited service, while all but a handful of flights from Aberdeen Airport – which is facing an amber warning – have been cancelled.

Travel reporter Simon Calder told the programme that about 250-300 flights within Scotland had been cancelled on Friday, affecting up to 20,000 passengers.

In addition to disruption on the rail network and at airports, other public transport was being affected;

• CalMac said all ferry services were cancelled on Friday, while Northlink said services on its routes would be cancelled or delayed.

• Police Scotland said those booked on ferry services between Cairnryan and Northern Ireland should not travel to the area and check with operators Stenaline and P&O for any updates.

• Freight drivers who “must attend” the port are being asked to follow instruction from their operators to access the Operation Overflow site, which will provide support.

• BEAR Scotland said it was likely major bridges including the Forth Road Bridge would close, while the Queensferry Crossing and Clackmannanshire Bridge would be shut to high-sided vehicles.

• Traffic Scotland confirmed the closure of the entire A75 due to “severe, adverse weather”.

• In Edinburgh, Lothian Buses said all services were being withdrawn for the duration of the red warning.

• CityLink has also cancelled all of its services heading south of Perth and departing from or going to Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Outside of the red warning area, the rest of Scotland will be covered by amber and yellow alerts for wind and snow for much of the day.

An amber warning for wind covering everywhere north of Perth, including Orkney and Shetland, lasts from 06:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday.

Another amber warning for wind covering everywhere south of Perth, though sweeping up the west coast encompassing the Isle of Mull, lasts from 06:00 until 21:00 on Friday. This will include the areas affected by the red alert after 17:00

Meanwhile, a yellow warning for snow, starting at 06:00 on Friday until midnight, covers parts of central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands and Argyll & Bute.

A further yellow warning for snow and ice covering the northern mainland and central belt, from midnight until 11:00 Saturday, was issued by the Met Office on Friday morning.

It is estimated up to 25cm of snow could fall in areas above 300m, but icy stretches are expected to form on untreated surfaces across the country as temperatures fall below freezing.

Other amber and yellow alerts for wind are also in place on Saturday.

BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith Ralston described the storm as a “once in a generation” event.

She said the strongest gusts early on Friday morning were recorded around Islay and the Mull of Kintyre in the south west.

She said: “We’ve seen gusts in excess of 60mph here but we’re looking at 80-90mph, possibly 100mph for the west coast in the red warning area.

“This is an intense storm – once in a generation if not rarer.”

All schools in Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, Angus, Clackmannashire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders are closed.

In the Highlands, decisions about school closures were being made on an individual basis.

Schools were expected to be open in Moray, Orkney, Shetland, and Aberdeen City.

As well as school closures, council services, like bin collections were expected to be disrupted.

Non-urgent planned procedures have been postponed in NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Lothian.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s have shut stores across all areas in the red warning zone to “ensure the safety of its colleagues and customers”.

Meanwhile, delivery service UberEats said it was pulling all services in the red zone until the warning ended.