The Arran ferry service is moving from Ardossan to Troon again this weekend - due to a forecast of poor weather.

With Ardrossan's second berth - the 'Irish berth' - now permanently closed by owners Peel Ports, the main Arran berth is also proving unusable during extreme weather, ferry operators CalMac revealed.

And sailings will relocate to Troon from Friday to Sunday.

A spokesperson for the company said today: "The Arran berth at Ardrossan is unsuitable for us to use during adverse weather, and with strong easterly winds forecast, the main service to Arran will temporarily move to Troon this weekend.

“Our port teams are currently contacting booked customers to let them know about this change.

"Passenger facilities are now available at Troon, however we would encourage customers (including foot passengers) to book in advance.

“Additional sailings from Lochranza to Claonaig, providing an alternative connection with the mainland, will continue to operate.

"For this period Brodick port operations will continue as normal around the amended timetable to Troon. "

The spokesperson added: "We remain committed to providing a reliable and resilient ferry service to the communities we serve and operating from Troon, whilst disruptive for customers, allows us to maintain critical links from Arran to the mainland while the Ardrossan ports are not available.” 

They said a decision on Monday's service would depend on the weather and would be announced on Saturday.

On Thursday, March 7, the 7.20pm sailing from Brodick has been cancelled to allow the vessel to reposition to Troon for Friday’s service.

On Friday and Saturday, there will be departures from Troon at 7am, 11.10am and 4.10pm, and from Brodick at 8.50am, 1.50pm and 6pm.

On Sunday, March 10, departures are from Troon at 8.45am, 12.55pm and 7.05pm, and from Brodick at 10.35am, 2.45pm and 6.55pm.

CalMac says all sailings remain liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice due to the adverse weather forecast, and that foot passengers will be required to board/disembark the vessel via the car deck in Troon.

The ferry operator announced plans for its summer timetable to and from Arran on March 5.

Under those plans, from March 28 onwards MV Isle of Arran will operate a single-vessel service between Ardrossan and Brodick, with the chartered catamaran MV Alfred supplementing those sailings with crossings to and from Troon.