Police have warned people not to travel in areas covered by a Met Office red wind warning following a forecast for 90mph winds.
Coastal areas of Angus, Fife, Aberdeenshire, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, along with Aberdeen and Dundee, are covered by the alert.
The Met Office’s highest level warning extends down to Middlesbrough in north east England.
It is in place from Friday 15:00 until 02:00 on Saturday.
Supt Simon Bradshaw said: “The high winds being experienced along the coastal areas of the north, east and southern parts of Scotland have led to red weather warnings coming into effect and as such, any motorist within these affected regions should not travel under any circumstances.”
Following a meeting of the Scottish government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR), First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a tweet that the “conditions pose a potential risk to life”.
Transport minister Graeme Dey said people should be prepared for possible travel disruption widely across Scotland.
A Met Office amber warning for gales and a yellow alert for high winds and snow have also been issued for other parts of the country.
Red warnings mean there could be danger to life, damage to property, travel and power disruption, and dangerous seas.
The Met Office said: “A spell of exceptionally strong northerly winds will affect eastern coastal districts of Scotland from later this afternoon moving south into south-east Scotland and north-east England this evening.
“Gusts of 80-90 mph are likely and these will generate some very large waves.”
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the red weather warning was “rare”.
“People in these affected areas should not travel under any circumstances, including motorists,” he said. “Yellow and amber weather warnings also remain in place for a number of areas and people should continue to exercise extreme caution and plan any necessary journeys in advance as there is disruption to transport services.
“The Scottish government is in close contact with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed.”
A Met Office amber weather warning for winds gusting to 75mph along coastal areas of eastern Scotland is in place until 09:00 Saturday.
In addition, yellow weather warnings for high winds are in place through to Saturday evening, with gusts of 55 to 65mph forecast for coastal areas.
Arwen is the first of the Met Office’s latest list of named storms this winter.
Temperatures will drop across the UK over the weekend as cold air is drawn in from the north, with high winds exacerbating the temperatures, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Agostinho Sousa, UKHSA public health medicine consultant, said: “Cold weather can have a serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with heart and lung problems, as it increases the risks of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections.
“It’s really important to keep checking on older neighbours or relatives, especially those living alone or those who have serious illness.”
Transport Scotland said there was potential for disruption to road travel, particularly to bridges.
It said restrictions on bridges could affect the large number of high-sided vehicles expected to be on the trunk road network for the Black Friday shopping sales.
The A1 has been closed to high-sided vehicles, and a 10-mile (16km) stretch has been closed in both directions between Thistly Cross roundabout and Abbotsview Junction due to high winds.
Trunk roads company Bear Scotland said wind speeds of up to 84mph (135km/h) were forecast at the bridge over the River Tyne near East Linton.
A diversion route is in place via the A199. This is expected to add approximately 10 minutes to affected journeys, says Bear Scotland.
Rail disruption
Network Rail Scotland said train speeds had been reduced between Edinburgh and the border until Saturday and from Dingwall to Wick and along the Inverness to Aberdeen line until the end of Friday.
The network operator warned that high winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) risked overhead power lines swaying and getting tangled on train equipment, causing damage and delays.
Strong winds could also blow debris and trees on to railway lines.
East coast route director Sarah Reid said staff were “doing all we can to keep services moving where possible and it is safe to do so”.
London North Eastern Railway, which operates trains between London and Aberdeen, urged people not to travel until Monday because their services were severely disrupted.
All trains north of Newcastle have been cancelled but replacement buses between Newcastle and Edinburgh will not operate because of the A1 road closure.
Ferry operator CalMac has warned of disruption across its network, and has already cancelled some sailings.
Services disrupted include Oban to Castlebay on Barra and Ullapool to Stornoway.
NorthLink Ferries has also warned of disruption to its Northern Isles services, and the bad weather has affected Loganair flights to and from Shetland.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said coastal areas were expected to see the worst of the windy weather.
It has issued flood alerts for Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen, Dundee and Angus, Edinburgh and Lothians, Fife, parts of Moray and the Scottish Borders.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIAThe HM Coastguard issued a warning about dangerous seas and told people not to put themselves at risk by taking pictures on the coastline.
“A dramatic photograph or selfie is not worth risking your life for,” it said.
Aberdeenshire Council said the snow gates at the Lecht on the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road would be closed from 13:00 due to difficult driving conditions.
Bad weather has already closed more than a dozen schools in the Highland Council area. Moray Council said Tomintoul Primary closed early due to a forecast of high winds and blizzards.
Wick High School was shut due to damage caused by high winds and will be closed along with the primary school and other facilities on Wick Community Campus until Tuesday.
All schools in Orkney closed at lunchtime.
A Met Office yellow warning for snow runs from 14:00 to midnight and snow could accumulate to as much as 8cm (3in) above 300m (984ft) in upland areas of the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Perth and Kinross and Angus.
The Mountain Weather Information Service has forecast “massive snowfall” for the Cairngorms overnight Friday and into Saturday, and the risk of wind-blown snow causing whiteout conditions.
In addition, on Friday in the Cairngorms and south eastern Highlands, the service has warned of gusts of 100 to 120 mph in hurricane force winds.
The most recent red weather warning in the UK was in February 2020 for heavy rain in South Wales associated with Storm Dennis.
The last red warning in Scotland was in March 2018 during the storm which was dubbed the Beast from the East. It was a combined wind and snow warning which also covered parts of south west England and South Wales.
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