Rescuers battle 70mph gales to find two missing fishermen after body is recovered off Isle of Lewis
Rain clearing over Northern Ireland, as the Met Office warns 70mph gusts from Hurricane Isaias remnants threaten travel chaos on Scottish roads, railways and ferry routes.
A creel boat thought to have been working crab and lobster grounds between Port of Ness and the Butt of Lewis disappeared on Tuesday night, and a fisherman's body was pulled from the sea off Port of Ness, Isle of Lewis, at 2.45am on Wednesday. Two crew members remain unaccounted for, and a large-scale search — drawing on an aircraft, two helicopters, six coastguard rescue teams, two RNLI lifeboats, and a local vessel — is continuing through severe weather. The recovered man is believed to be the skipper; all three are local Lewis men, and police are in contact with their families.
Western Isles Council convenor Kenneth Macleod called conditions 'quite brutal' and praised the rescue teams for making 'extraordinary efforts.'
Police are asking the public to stay out of the search, warning that gusts of up to 70mph make conditions dangerously challenging for trained responders.
The storm is the remnant of Hurricane Isaias, which hit the southern US last Friday before its remains were pulled across the Atlantic in what meteorologists call a 'weather bomb.'
