A fire has broken out close to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are currently on the scene off Holyrood Road where a sub station is ablaze.
It is currently unknown whether anyone has been injured or the source of the fire, but smoke is visible across the city.
Three fire engines are on the scene attempting to extinguish the flames.
The force said: "We are currently dealing with a well-developed fire at an electrical substation near Holyrood Road, Edinburgh.
"Three fire appliances and an aerial appliance are in attendance.
"Crews are working alongside partners @policescotland to evacuate nearby properties as a precaution."
Officers from Police Scotland have put a large cordon in place as they assist their fire colleagues.
The force tweeted:"We are assisting @fire_scot at a fire near #HolyroodRoad.
"The road remains closed between #HolyroodPark & #Pleasance and the pubic are asked to avoid the area where possible. No injuries have been reported & neighbouring properties evacuated as a precaution."
People in the Scottish Parliament building, which is close by, said they can smell the smoke coming from the fire.
Gillian Mackay, co-convener of the Scottish Young Greens tweeted: "Not entirely sure what's on fire on Holyrood Road.
"We can smell it inside the Parliament building. Hope no one is hurt."
As a result of the blaze all university buildings have been evacuated.
Universities Scotland tweeted: "We've had to evacuate the office as all buildings on Holyrood road were cleared by police due to #edinburghfire Everyone is safe.
"Waiting for updates. Staff contactable by email & mobiles in meantime."
The blaze has caused a power cut in the EH1 and EH8 post code areas of the city.
Engineers from Scottish Power are currently working to fix the outage.
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