Hundreds of homes have been evacuated as heavy rain caused flooding across Scotland.

The north-east was the worst affected area with 400 homes in Elgin and 50 in Fochabers being evacuated due to flooding around the rivers Lossie and Spey.

In the north-east, roads have been closed amid "treacherous" conditions, with police warning people to stay at home unless travel was absolutely necessary.

Go to our galley to see a selection of images of the flooding>

The Red Cross had two boats and a hovercraft on standby to help the emergency services.

Firefighters from Tayside Fire Brigade are travelling north to assist their colleagues in Moray.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued five severe flood warnings and eight flood warnings for rivers across the country.

Severe weather warnings for Grampian, Tayside, Fife, central and southern Scotland were issued by the Met Office.

The evacuation of homes in Moray began during the night and residents were taken to a rest centre in Elgin High School set up by the council.

The river Lossie had breached in one location but efforts were being made to stem the flow with sandbags.

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In Fochabers, the rain was too much for the Burnbank Bridge which gave way - taking with it resident Ian Gordon's garden and vehicles which were tossed into the stream below. His workshop in nearby Mosstodloch was also flooded for the third time.

Mr Gordon said: "It’s utter devastation. We had flooding here 12 years ago – not this bad, but all the houses were flooded – and the council were told the bridge would have to be fixed or, better still, replaced.

“The last time it happened I lost £26,000 and I received not a single penny from the council even though my workshop’s on their ground.

“The council assured me repairs were done, new drains were put in, a wall was built – just a load of nonsense, cheapskate measures. I reckon this time I’ve lost another £25,000.”

In Rothes 25 homes were experiencing flooding, and the council said that residents would be evacuated.

Forecasters said that Aberdeen and Lossiemouth were the wettest places in Scotland overnight, both being hit with 51mm (2 inches) of rain in the 12 hours up until 7am.

Gordon Bell, who owns a piano tuning store in the heart of Aberdeen, received a nasty shock when he opened his store this morning.

Mr Bell said: "I went down to the basement and about 20 pianos, six grands, were submerged in about five feet of water - basically floating.

It was quite devastating to see half the stock of the shop destroyed. It's valued at over a hundred thousand pounds and in particular one piano is worth twenty thousand pounds, a Bechstein Grand, which was dated from 1880 which cant be replaced."

Environment Secretary and Moray MSP Richard Lochhead travelled to Moray to view the affected areas after cancelling his other engagements.

He said: "This is an anxious time for families and communities, both for those already directly affected by the floods and for those who may be in danger of being affected as the situation progresses.

"Council and emergency services personnel have been working flat out to protect families and communities and hundreds of people have been evacuated, mainly on a precautionary basis."

In Tayside, parts of the villages of Letham and Bridgefoot in Angus were badly affected. Several properties were flooded with water a foot deep in places.

Cairnie Nursing Home in Arbroath also suffered flooding although no residents had to be evacuated.

Vehicles were stuck in several inches of water in different locations.

At Bridgefoot, police officers rescued a mother and her three children, aged five and under, after her car became stuck in water shortly after 9am.

The heavy rain also caused major problems on the roads.

In the Grampian area police said the weather had made road surfaces extremely slippy, with flood water lying on many roads, and advised drivers to stay at home.

Parts of the A90 and A947 were closed, as was the A96 Keith to Fochabers route.

Northern Constabulary warned motorists of hazardous conditions due to large amounts of surface water on the A96 near Nairn and urged people to drive with "extreme care."

Part of the A1 was closed in the Haddington area, and a diversion was in place.

However forecasters predicted the weather would improve during the afternoon.

Rob Hutchinson, a forecaster with Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "The heavy rain over eastern areas is dying away from the north east leaving one or two showers but the heavy rain is out of the picture now, so it`s going to start to brighten up in places."

There are five severe flood warnings in place for the Rivers Avon and Fiddich, River Lossie upstream of Elgin, River Lossie at Elgin, River Spey from downstream of Grantown to Fochabers and from downstream of Fochabers to Spey Bay.

There are seven flood warnings in place for the River Findhorn from Mundole to Findhorn Bay, Mosset Burn In Forres, Brothock Water including the Arbroath area, River Tyne at Haddington, River Oykel from Oykel bridge to Ibnveroykel and Invercassley, River Nairn from Firhall foot bridge to Nairn Bridge and River Isla from Bridge of Ruthven to the River Tay.