A WOMAN was understood to be in a critical condition yesterday after being struck by a roof slate during Storm Hector.

The victim, who was not named, was in Edinburgh’s Dalry Road when the incident happened yesterday morning.

She was thought to be in a critical condition last night.

Winds of up to 70mph were expected as the storm hit Scotland, prompting a yellow “be aware” warning from the Met Office.

Disruption was felt across many parts of the country as road, rail and ferry services were affected.

A trampoline on the line at Helmsdale, Sutherland, hit shuttles between Inverness and Wick, while fallen trees forced Virgin Trains to suspend travel between Preston and Scotland.

Elsewhere, double decker buses were barred from crossing the Forth Road Bridge over safety fears, as were cyclists and pedestrians.

And authorities had to close

the Tay Road Bridge to all vehicles in the early afternoon for

the same reason.

Ferries serving Skye, Gigha, Arran, Tiree and South Uist were also restricted, with some called off for the whole day.

Meanwhile, the National Schools Mass at Falkirk Stadium was cancelled due to the adverse conditions.

School groups from across the country had been due to attend, but those heading for the event were advised to turn back.

The storm also resulted in the strongest gusts ever recorded in Northern Ireland in June, leaving more than 23,000 without power.

Another 35,000 properties were cut off in the Republic of Ireland.

At home, ScotRail said “chainsaw gangs” and overhead line teams have been deployed across the rail network to remove trees and branches that caused delays and cancellations to services.

And in England, police closed the Tees flyover to high-sided vehicles and the Shields Ferry across the Tyne was not operating.

As much as 5.1 inches (130mm) of rain pelted down in Skye as the island was hectored by the storm.

In Cumbria the figure was 3.2in (80mm) falling over 24 hours.

However, the gusts were good news for renewable energy companies as more than a third of Britain’s electricity supply was generated by wind power.

Official figures showed that in the 30 minutes before 10am yesterday, 34.5% of the UK’s electricity came from wind – significantly higher than the 6% recorded on previous, calmer days.

The blustery “taps on” period followed prolonged “taps off” conditions, with temperatures in much of Scotland climbing above 20C in recent days.

With the front now passing, conditions are predicted to return to the bright spells and showers more commonly experienced in June.

According to the Met Office, the outlook for Saturday is similar, with the possibility of thunder.

Sunday is expected to be the best day of the weekend, being drier with hazy sunshine.