Yellow weather warning widened as Scotland to be battered by thunderstorms

Scotland is set to be battered by downpours as a yellow weather warning has been brought forward and extended to cover most of the mainland.

The Met Office brought forward a yellow weather warning for rain which was scheduled to come into force at 4pm on Saturday, instead predicting downpours will occur from midday.

Up to 75mm of rain could fall within the space of just a few hours – equivalent to a month’s worth of rain.

The area set to be affected by rainfall covers the majority of the Scottish mainland and is expected to last until midday on Sunday.

The Met Office said heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms are expected to hit the country, with a small chance of power cuts and flooding affecting some areas.

Train and bus services may experience delays or cancellations due to the downpours.

Insight Sean Batty STV meteorologist

I’m sure you’ll have noticed the humid feel to the air in the last day or two, and this plume of air will bring the possibility of some torrential downpours this weekend along with a thunder risk.

On Saturday, it looks like the worst of the rain will spread across central and eastern parts of the country during the afternoon and evening, with the focus around the Borders, Edinburgh, Lothians, Lanarkshire, Fife, Angus and Aberdeenshire.

In these areas we can expect 20-30mm of rain to fall quite widely, but a few spots could see some heavier downpours which could take totals towards 75mm, which would be the equivalent of a month’s worth of rain.

Obviously this quantity of rain could cause some issues locally. It’s this sort of rainfall which causes the type of flooding which sees deep puddles develop on roads, making some impassable, and underpasses to become flooded – typical of summer downpours.

It looks like another spell of heavy thundery rain will move north on Sunday, with again a focus on eastern areas, but may extend a bit further west than Saturday’s into the likes of Glasgow, Ayrshire and parts of Argyll. This again brings the risk of some further flooding.

There are plenty of events planned across the weekend — including The Tall Ships Races in Aberdeen, the Kirriemuir Agricultural Show, Crail Fest, and the Merchant City Festival. Keep an eye on updates for these and, if you’re heading out, don’t forget your rain gear (and maybe a towel!).