Sunday ferry

The MV Isle of Lewis quietly broke the Sabbath when she sailed on a commercial voyage from Stornoway on Sunday.

Air ambulance leaves Barra cancer patient on wrong island

A seriously ill cancer patient has been stranded on the wrong island in the Western Isles by an air ambulance crew.

An air ambulance helicopter flew Archie Boyd to Benbecula instead of Barra on Friday morning after he received a session of radiotherapy treatment in a Glasgow hospital.

Giant wind farm hint

Strong words from Scottish energy minister Jim Mather that renewable energy schemes must not destroy the environment seems to hint that the controversial major wind farm on Lewis will not receive planning permission. News from the Western Isles

Hharmony with the environment

Island wind farms must be in harmony with the environment says Scottish energy minister Jim Mather. He announced a short-term study into researching a framework to exploit renewable energy and other economic projects for the future of the Outer Hebrides
Click here for more Western Isles news

Barra RNLI lifeboat on stamp

The heroic crew of the Barra RNLI lifeboat are honoured on a new first-class stamp issued by the Royal Mail.

More daily news from the Western Isles

Harris may become National Park

North Harris may become Scotland's third National Park. Its community landlord is consulting with islanders over the matter more

Click here for more updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Rescue helicopter lacked range for mission

The new Stornoway coastguard helicopter could not undertake a rescue mission on Wednesday because new fuel tanks have yet to be fitted to the Sikorsky S92.

Click here for more updated news from the Western Isles

Referees threaten to boycott island games

One Western Isles football fan has hit out at the stance taken by local referees against a Lochs player. They are apparently threatening to boycott Lochs games this season if one of its star players, is on the match list.

Click here for more updated news from the Western Isles

Harris whaling station energy scheme

An old hydro power scheme at a historic whaling station in the Western Isles could be rebuilt 50 years after it was last used. The small-scale energy project is being investigated by the community owners of North Harris. more

Updated news from the Western Isles

Western Isles NHS board fails deadline

Western Isles NHS board is unlikely to obey today's deadline to hand over a secret report which the Scottish Parliament wants as evidence for an inquiry into the health body.

However, the current bosses at the isles board have refused to release the document.

Last month, former chief excutive Dick Manson who now works as a NHS project director in Glasgow forgot that he had seen the dossier more

Meeting about secret health board report confirmed

A damning letter about a private meeting of Western Isles NHS board confirms that two top bosses had known about a secret report despite statements to the contrary to a Scottish Parliament inquiry.
Click here for more updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Scottish Parliament threatens Western Isles NHS over secret evidence

The Scottish Parliament is threatening to invoke special legal powers for the first time to legally force Western Isles NHS Board to hand over a controversial secret document.

The Parliament is conducting an inquiry into the long-running financial problems at the isles health body but has encountered problems in getting it to release what could be vital evidence. More

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Worl's newest salmon carrier ship runs aground

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

The newest and most modern salmon ship in the world went aground in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland at the weekend.

The well-boat was stuck fast on the ground on Eilean Garbh off Rona and is believed to be on charter to Marine Harvest. Only commissioned into service three months ago, she serves salmon farms in Norway and Scotland including the Western Isles and the west coast.

More local news from the Western Isles

Western Isles school damaged by fire

A Western Isles school has suffered damage in a blaze
A wing of Sir E Scott primary school in Harris was hit by fire on Saturday night.

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Uist golf row goes to Land Court

The row over the Old Tom Morris golf course in the Hebrides has ended up in the Land Court.
A group of crofters have lodged a legal action against their own community landlord Stòras Uibhist,.
The golf course in South Uist in the Western Isles is laid out over common grazings.
Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Eishken wind farm inquiry starts

The public inquiry for a giant Lewis wind farm will start in two months in the Western Isles. A pre-inquiry meeting was held on Friday in Stornoway to discuss the terms, protocol and logistics. Developer Nick Oppenheim intends to build 53 turbines at Eishken in South Lochs.

Click here for updated local news from Hebrides News

Call for more morning light for Scotland

Western Isles SNP MP Angus Macneil says that Scotland should have extra daylight in the mornings. He warns that a proposed law could mean different time zones between Scotland and England.

Pubs served underage drinker before violent assault

An underage drinker was served in a number of pubs before he unleashed a violent attack on a stranger in the middle of Stornoway.

South Uist soldier awarded a top bravery honour

A courageous soldier from South Uist in the Western Isles has been awarded the country’s second highest military honour for his exceptional bravery in the face of intense danger in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Campbell took on the Taliban and lived to tell the tale.

Striking coastguards picket Stornoway rescue centre

Only one watch assistant officer reported for work on Thursday morning dayshift at the busy Stornoway Coastguard rescue centre in the Western Isles which co-ordinates maritime emergencies in the Minch and Atlantic Ocean. Striking personnel picketed the MCA building.

Western Isles makes legal tagging history

In a legal first for the Western Isles, if not Scotland, an electronic signal will alert the authorities if an offender enters an exclusion zone.

Normally, tagging orders set by the courts stop people from leaving their home.

But now an electronic exclusion zone will be established around a house on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides to keep an offender out. The innovative order was made by Sheriff David Sutherland at Stornoway Sheriff Court.

Arnish order hits delay

A lucrative wind farm order for the Arnish renewable energy yard in Stornoway in the Western Isles has been delayed with the European developers hitting difficulties in securing a financial package. However, the Hebridean fabrication site is still due to manufacture the 49 towers for Turkey.

Islanders not invited to ferry summit

The Scottish Parliament has not invited representatives from Barra or South Uist to a summit it is holding about the future of ferry services in Oban despite these two islands being served from that port.

Axe falls on Western Isles post offices

Thirteen Western Isles post offices are to be axed under major cutbacks in the Post Office network.

Closures will hit Lewis with Harris and North Uist also taking hits. More branches will disappear in the hebrides than the other Scottish islands.

Naked surfers washed out by clergy

A high profile internet advert featuring naked surfers on Barra has been scrapped after they were spotted by an island priest.

Three male surfers spent last Wednesday shivering in the nude in bitter Hebridean February winds for a Vist Scotland promotion only to be roasted by the wrath of the local clergy.