The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for rain and gusts as heavy downpours hit Scotland.
The remnants of storm Jonas, which blanketed much of the east coast of America in deep snow, have begun to sweep in from the Atlantic, prompting widespread weather and flood alerts.
Yellow 'be aware' warnings for rain have been issued for the Highlands & Western Isles, Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside & Fife, and Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders.
The warning is valid from 4am until 6pm today.
Forecasters are predicting around 30 to 50mm of rain in most areas. Parts of Scotland are likely to face winds of up to 70mph.
Our video, taken by Jim Chestnut, shows the scene facing walkers on the promenade at Helensburgh on Monday afternoon as high winds arrived on the west coast.
Laura Caldwell, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said heavy rain had hit western Scotland and north-west England overnight.
She said: "Between 10 and 25mm fell in a few hours overnight in those areas and through the course of today the rain will sweep across most of the UK. Southern Scotland, the west of England and Wales will be particularly affected.
"This is the remnants of storm Jonas. The warmer, very moist, tropical air is bringing in this potentially very high rainfall."
Ms Truss, who chaired a COBR committee last night, said the military were on standby and pumps had been deployed in order to deal with any flooding as she attempted to reassure "anxious" flood-hit communities.
The Met Office has also issued severe weather warnings for rain for Wednesday and Friday.
Yellow weather warnings are in place for rain in the Highlands & Western Isles, Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside & Fife, and Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders on Wednesday.
The warning is valid from 3am until 12pm on Wednesday.
'Be aware' weather warnings for rain have also been issued for the Highlands & Western Isles, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside & Fife, and Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders for Friday.
The warnings are valid from 12.05am until 11.45pm on Friday.
The Met Office said: "Rain will become persistent and at times heavy early on Tuesday, clearing from the west later in the day. The rain will be accompanied by gales with a risk of severe gales for exposed coasts and hills for a time.
"Please be aware of the potential for disruption to travel due to localised flooding."
Many parts of Scotland are likely to receive between 0.8 to 1.5 inches of rain while the most exposed upland areas could see as much as 2.4 inches.
Pascal Lardet, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Flood Unit, said: "SEPA is predicting potential coastal flooding impacts later on Monday into Tuesday, primarily in the south and south west."
He said exposed locations along the west coast, including the Western Isles and Northern Isles could als be affected.
On Tuesday, further heavy and persistent rainfall accompanied by gale force south westerly winds could also lead to localised flooding impacts of low lying land and roads, and disruption to travel is possible in the Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Skye and Lochaber, Argyll and Bute, Central, Tayside, northern parts of Angus and southern parts of Aberdeenshire.
A second weather front will see further rain and wind hitting the UK towards the end of the week.
But recent mild temperatures are expected to continue after one of the warmest January days on record on Sunday.
Swell charts produced by surfers' website Magicseaweed.com have forecast swells of between 34ft and 42ft in the sea off Scotland's west coast on Friday.
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