Heavy rain to batter western Scotland as Met Office issues yellow warning and Sepa issues three flood alerts

Parts of Scotland are set to be battered by heavy rain in the coming days as a yellow weather warning comes into force on Wednesday.

The alert, issued by the Met Office, will come into force from 5pm and will remain in place until 6am on Friday.

Up to 50-75mm of rainfall is expected, while 100-150mm of rain could fall over the western-facing mountains.

Forecasters said up to 200-250mm of rainfall is expected from Tuesday through Thursday in the worst-affected mountain areas.

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The warning covers much of the west coast of Scotland, impacting Perth and Kinross, Stirling, the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.

SEPA has issued flood alerts in Skye and Lochaber, Argyll and Bute, and Wester Ross, which are in place until Friday.

The rain is these areas will most likely be accompanied by a spell of strong winds.

The public has been warned to expect delays to public transport, spray and flooding on roads, as well as potential power cuts and flooding in homes and businesses.

Some communities may be cut off by flooded roads, and there is a chance that fast-flowing or deep floodwater could result in a danger to life, the Met Office added.

Insight Philip Petrie STV News Meteorologist

We are likely to see 50-70mm of rain in western parts, locally 100-150mm, during the warning period and that is on top of the rain that we saw earlier in the week, so it is likely we will see some impacts and disruption, flooding and a lot of surface water on roads. Along with the rain the winds will also be quite strong, reaching severe gales around western coastal places.

By the end of the week we are seeing an area of low pressure developing out in the Atlantic, which is being deepened by both the remnants of Hurricane Humberto and Tropical Storm Imelda. At the moment there is still some uncertainty as to how the weather will develop later on in the week and we will just be keeping an eye on things in case further warnings or escalations are required.