Amber "danger to life" alert in place across North, North East and Tayside

The Met Office has issued the warning across Angus, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands

More than a month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours in some parts of the country
Author: Kieran BrandPublished 8th Oct 2023

Lives are once again at risk in the North, North East and Tayside due to heavy rain.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning across Angus, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands until 2pm on Sunday.

More than a month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours in some parts of the country, with widespread travel disruption across Scotland's rail network.

SEPA has also issued over 50 flood warnings since the downpour began.

Jonathan Vautrey from the Met Office said: “We are expecting the band of rain that’s been across Scotland to gradually push its way northwards over the course of Sunday and it’s here we could see heavy amounts of rainfall throughout the day.

“These regions have already seen 30-40mm throughout Saturday but we could see up to up to 80mm falling which does lead to further of flooding and transport disruption over the course of the day.

“All of the Met Office’s warnings are issued in line with public safety and it is important that people stay up to date and take heed of them.”

The heavy rain and flooding saw the closure of the Highland Main Line between Perth and Inverness and LNER called off services north of Newcastle.

And disruption is expected again today on the country’s rail network with Scotrail warning many services will start later due to safety checks.

The company’s communications director, David Ross, said: “We saw some extreme rainfall across the country yesterday, which flooded large parts of the railway.

“Because of that, disruption will continue – Network Rail has to check routes to make sure that they’re safe to operate.

“So, our advice to anyone planning to travel today is to check the website, take a look at the Scotrail app, before leaving the house, to make sure you know exactly what’s happening.”

Yesterday, ten motorists were airlifted to safety after drivers were trapped by landslides near Inveraray in Argyll and Bute and Kayakers paddled down submerged streets in Inverclyde - around 12 cars were spotted abandoned in floodwater in the coastal region.

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