Flooding and travel delays 'likely' as rain warning issued

Parts of Scotland have been told to expect flooding and travel disruption after the Met Office issued a rain warning.

The yellow ‘be aware’ caution, which kicked in at 2pm, will be in place until 11am on Thursday, covering the south of the country, including areas such as Ayr, Lanark, Peebles and Dumfries.

Forecasters have described flooding as “likely”, while bus and train services could be affected, with journey times taking longer.

STV meteorologist Seán Batty said: “The areas with the highest rainfall in the coming days will be in Dumfries and Galloway and western Borders where 50-60mm may fall in some spots between now and the end of Friday.

“I would say that it’s looking likely that the changeable and unsettled conditions will last until at least the start of March, with no prolonged settled spells in the outlook yet.

“This means that the flood risk, as well as the risk of snow at times, may dominate for a few more weeks.”

The latest alert comes after Storm Dennis swept the country at the weekend, battering the country with high winds and heavy rain.

There was substantial flooding on major roads, such as the A9 between Perth and Stirling, making driving conditions difficult, while people were evacuated from their homes in the Scottish Borders.

Prior to that, Storm Ciara wreaked havoc with gale-force winds and downpours pummeling much of the country.

Seán said: “Rainfall has become quite a talking point in the last week after two storms, which together have brought huge amounts of rain to some areas and big flood issues, especially in parts of Wales and the Midlands.

“Our issues here in Scotland have been mainly in southern areas, specifically the Borders where river have burst their banks.

“Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway has already had more than a month-and-a-half worth of rainfall in the first 17 days of February, although is a good bit off the record for the month.

“With more rain on the way, this will be delayed seeping into the ground as it’s been so wet recently and means more is likely therefore to run straight into rivers which gives an increased risk of minor flood issues near river banks.”