STRONG winds are thought to have brought down a tree which caused delays on the A350 this evening.

One lane was closed on the A350 northbound between the Kington Langley turn-off and junction 17 of the M4.

Forecasts of strong wind for tomorrow have delayed the open of Westonbirt Arboretum tomorrow and has led to the closure of a footpath.

The aboretum said that it will not open until midday on Saturday due to the winds and apologised for the inconvenience.

High winds have also led to the closure of a footpath owned by Malmesbury Victoria Football Club which serves as a shortcut for children walking home from school.

Speaking on behalf of the football club, Coun Julie Exton said: "They are big trees - in this weather the branches can come off and it has already dented a car."

The path behind Co-Op in Malmesbury will be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Met Office is predicting gales and severe gales tonight, with the weather calming down as morning approaches. Heavy rain is also expected tomorrow.

Thousands of homes are still without power after high winds battered the north of the country, bringing major disruption to the transport network. 

At the height of the problems more than 100,000 properties across the Highlands, islands, Aberdeenshire and the central belt of Scotland lost electricity as hurricane-force winds brought gusts of more than 100mph.

A gust of 113mph was recorded at Stornoway on Lewis, the strongest gust since records at that site began in 1970, while a gust of 110mph was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch and 97mph at Atlnaharra in the Highlands.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) said it has restored supplies to 52,000 customers and is working to restore electricity to a further 45,000 customers, with the Western Isles and rural areas the worst hit. Some customers may have to wait until tomorrow to be reconnected.

The ferocious gales were stirred up by an extra-powerful jet stream triggered by plunging temperatures in the United States hitting warmer air in the south.

A Met Office amber warning for much of Scotland has now been lifted but yellow "be prepared "warnings remain in place across central and southern Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland with strong winds and a chance of snow over the weekend.

The strongest winds recorded in England today were at High Bradfield, in South Yorkshire, which saw a gust of 76mph at 1am.

In Wales, the strongest gust was at Aberdaron, Gwynedd, with 76mph at 11pm last night while for Northern Ireland, the strongest was 70mph at Killowen, County Down, at 10pm last night.

The Met Office said: "While the winds have now dropped significantly, it will stay windy through today in many parts and gusts will increase in strength once again tonight as another low pressure system is set to affect northern parts of the country."