Thousands of angry commuters faced a day of travel chaos after a lorry was blown over on the Forth Road Bridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning when the structure was officially closed to HGVs.

The 40-tonne truck was toppled by a storm-force gust of wind at around 2am, when it was blown from the northbound carriageway on to the southbound lanes.

The incident meant the bridge, which carries around 70,000 vehicles a day, including 10,000 lorries, remained closed during the morning and evening rush hours and was only expected to reopen at 6am on Thursday.

A maintenance team was due to work on the bridge overnight, weather permitting, raising the possibility of further disruption. They were repairing what was described as the worst crash damage on the structure in its 53-year-history.

The 54-year-old driver of the vehicle, operated by the Dumfries-based haulage company Currie European, has been charged with dangerous driving. He suffered minor injuries.