Scots living in the west have been warned to brace for more than 24-hours of rain with forecasters issuing weather alerts for heavy downpours.  

The Met Office has sent out yellow warnings covering a large part of Scotland, stretching down the west coast from Stornoway and Ullapool to Glasgow and Dumfries.  

Up to 150mm of rainfall is expected within a 24-hour period in the worst affected areas. 

The wet weather is predicted to arrive at 9am on Wednesday and finally clear at 3pm on Thursday.  

Forecasters are warning of the potential for flooding, difficult driving conditions, the possibility of power cuts and delays to buses and trains.  

There is the danger of flooding, the Met Office said There is the danger of flooding, the Met Office said (Image: PA)

There is a small chance that some communities will become cut off by flooded roads 

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. 

The spell of bad weather is being blamed on the arrival of the tail-end of Hurricane Ernesto, which left more than 23,000 in Bermuda without power as it made landfall on Saturday. 

Hurricanes cannot form off the coast of the UK, as they require much higher sea temperatures. 

However, the country is sometimes affected by deep depressions that were originally hurricanes which have moved to higher latitudes 

Such depressions are classified as 'ex-hurricanes' or 'extra-tropical cyclones' since they have changed their prime energy source from the warm ocean surface to the clash of warm tropical and cold polar air - a process known as extratropical transition. 

An ex-hurricane can sometimes still have hurricane strength winds even though it is no longer classified as a hurricane.