The 30MW Ardrossan project in Ayrshire is owned by Infinis Energy and uses Vestas 2MW turbines. The incident occurred as the northern half of the UK faced winds of up to 165mph.

In a statement, Infinis confirmed the nacelle had caught fire but was unable to give further details on the cause. It said no one was present when the incident happened, as staff are always evacuated from the site in 55mph+ winds as a precautionary measure.

Infinis said ScottishPower, which operates the local network, had disconnected the wind farm.

The incident comes only a year after Infinis acquired the project from Scottish and Southern Energy. The project was commissioned in 2004 and received a 6MW extension in 2009.

The image of the burning wind turbine, which was sent into the BBC by a member of the public, has been reproduced in the UK press to illustrate the weather conditions.