Internet and phone services in Orkney and Shetland have been disrupted because of damage to a subsea cable.
Shetland Telecom said the Shefa-2 cable between Orkney and Banff sustained damage at about 03:00.
The switchboard at Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall is currently down, with patients asked to call a mobile number instead.
The cable, which links Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands to mainland Scotland, was last damaged three years ago in an incident thought to have been because of a fishing vessel.