Around 100 homes have been affected by flooding in a Scottish village after a night of heavy rain which has also disrupted transport links across the country.

Residents in Comrie, Perthshire, were evacuated from their homes when the Water of Ruchill burst its banks just before 8am, near Dalginross.

Tayside Fire and Rescue Service said about 70 firefighters and 10 appliances were at the scene, including water rescue teams.

Properties were also flooded in Aberfoyle, Dunblane, and Callander. The main street in Aberfoyle was closed in both directions, and houses were being pumped out in Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, after the River Cree burst its banks.

In Comrie, the flooding has extended into large parts of Dalginross, Camp Road, Bank Road, Tay Avenue, Glebe Road and Duke Road, the fire service said.

Roads around Dalginross have been closed by police and a cordon put up.

An emergency rest centre has been set up by Perth and Kinross Council at Strathearn Community Campus leisure centre in nearby Crieff, where those who cannot return to their homes are being assisted.

Another centre is also open at Comrie Community Centre - The White Church, where Red Cross teams are caring for people.

A Red Cross spokesman said the volunteers, who are based in Dundee, have helped more than 20 people who were evacuated from their properties, including a number of elderly people from two care homes.

Other volunteers have been standing by in a specially-equipped Red Cross Fire and Emergency Services Support (FESS) vehicle, which is an adapted mobile home where people can be given shelter, first aid, emotional support and dry clothing.

Robert Colburn, Red Cross senior service manager for east Scotland, said: "Our FESS team were called in by Tayside Fire and Rescue at about 11.15am.

"Just 20 minutes later, we were asked to send in emergency response volunteers by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

"Our main duties are to look after the welfare of people arriving at the rest centre and to give as much help as we can to the emergency services.

"All Red Cross FESS and emergency response volunteers are highly-trained in the skills needed to look after people in times of crisis such as flooding or house fires.

"As an emergency response organisation, the Red Cross has vast experience of helping people in all sorts of crises."

Speaking from Comrie, Rab Middlemiss, group manager at Tayside Fire and Rescue, said that when the Water of Ruchill rises, it is supposed to enter the River Earn via a 24-inch drain.

"In this actual incident, what's happened is that the culvert (drain) has been unable to take the vast volume of water and the flood embankment has overtopped and that water has then cascaded into the main village of Comrie itself," he said.

Mr Middlemiss said the water has gone through the whole village, travelling over half a mile, with between 100-150 properties hit.

He said: "We did have resources in place, we had local crews from Comrie and Crieff - they had their pumps on to that flood embankment and were pumping water to try and alleviate the pressure on that culvert but we've been unable to do so and the water has come into the village and affected a large number of properties.

"Prior to that what we had to do was to receive information about the vulnerable residents, we are aware that there is a large elderly population within the local community, and basically we went around assessing them with our water rescue trained firefighters on the scene and they were going door to door removing people from the area with our colleagues from Tayside Police.

"Perth and Kinross council opened up a rest centre, so what we have is a large coordinated response to a very serious situation in Comrie today.

"Now what we have is a large number of standing pools of water that we are pumping away from that area."

He added: "We also had flooding here on August 27 and from my experience it is slightly worse than what we experienced a few months ago.

"The floods we had in August, we still had about 30 people out of their homes. Before they get a chance to get back in, we've had these same properties affected. Now what we need to look at is how are we going to prevent this happening in the longer term.

"We are looking at overnight what can we do. The fire and rescue service will ensure we have a presence overnight on a watching brief."

Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service said houses on Arthur Street in Newton Stewart were being pumped out after the River Cree burst its banks this afternoon.

Police said the A714 at the junction with the B7027, across the Cree Bridge, was closed to traffic and pedestrians.

The A762 between New Galloway and Allan Gibbon Bridge was also closed, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said, with diversions in place.

A landslip shut the A83 in both directions at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll. A diversion route was set up.

A taskforce group is due to meet on December 14 to discuss the landslip-prone road, but Roddy McCuish, leader of Argyll and Bute Council, said today's incident shows action is needed urgently.

"We need a permanent failsafe solution to keep the A83 open at the Rest and Be Thankful so Argyll and Bute can carry on as normal even when bad weather hits the area," he said.

"Our businesses and people living here suffer every time the main route into Argyll and Bute is closed."

Flooding also closed the A814 in both directions at Rhu, between Helensburgh and Faslane. Motorists heading to Faslane or Coulport were advised to use the A817 Haul Road or another route.

High winds have seen the Forth Road Bridge closed to double-decker buses and speed restrictions were in place.

Earlier traffic was queuing on the M8 because of flooding at junction 19 at Anderston Cross, which cleared later.

Inverclyde Council said the A761 Port Glasgow/Kilmacolm road was closed because of flooding, but it has since reopened.

Traffic information company INRIX said heavy rain has led to more than 20 full and partial road closures across the west of Scotland, including the A77 between Girvan and Ballantrae in Ayrshire.

INRIX traffic analyst Cat Kobylinski said: "The worst-affected areas are around Argyll and Bute and Dunbartonshire but there is lots of surface water across the central belt which is affecting some of the major routes.

"With heavy rain forecast to continue throughout the afternoon, there is no expected time for roads to reopen and rush-hour delays are likely to be significant."

Trains between Glasgow and East Kilbride were disrupted this morning by flooding at Thornliebank station. This was cleared at about 1pm.

Flooding also affected trains through Bishopton, Renfrewshire, and at Bogston, between Port Glasgow and Greenock, while a landslip at Dunragit, in Dumfries and Galloway, disrupted services there.

Ferry operator CalMac listed 13 disruptions on its website, including to ferries between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay, Mallaig and Armadale, and Ardrossan and Brodick.

Increased risk of localised flooding has led to the Met Office issuing "be aware" warnings for central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, Highlands and islands, the south west of Scotland, the Lothians and Borders and Strathclyde.

Twelve flood warnings have been given by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, eight of which are in Tayside.

Warnings have also been issued for Bridge of Allan and Dunblane, in central Scotland, Whitesands in Dumfries and Galloway, Strath Oykel in Caithness and Sutherland, and Pollok Country Park in west central Scotland.

Alerts are also in place for the rest of these regions, as well as Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran and Skye and Lochaber.

Helen Rossington, forecaster at Meteogroup, said around two inches (50mm) of rain fell overnight and into this morning, according to a rain gauge in Bishopton.

She said it was "no surprise" that there had been flooding. "Throughout the rest of the day, the rain will become lighter and will move away to the east," she said.

"Wind speeds have been between 40mph and 45mph, with southerly gusts of up to 50mph in more exposed areas."

The Met Office forecast a drier afternoon with winds easing, although more rain may fall later into the night.

Police have warned motorists to take care by turning on their lights in poor visibility and to drive according to the conditions being faced.