MOTORISTS are being warned to take extra care as heavy rain is forecast for parts of Scotland.

Amber flood alerts have been issued for parts of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray, which are expected to be deluged with the equivalent of a month's rainfall in the next three days.

The rain will affect most of the country today and is likely to be heaviest across Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll and Bute, Stirlingshire, Perthshire and the southern Highlands, with the potential for localised flooding and travel disruption.

Transport Scotland's multi-agency response team is on standby and will be activated if needed. Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "A wide range of agencies and organisations are poised to react quickly to the alerts and activate their response plans for the potential impact of heavy rain."

A yellow alert is in place for tomorrow, affecting Orkney, the eastern Highlands, Tayside, Fife, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and parts of the Lothians.

Marc Becker, hydrology duty manager at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, said: "There is an increasing risk of flooding for north-east Scotland on Friday and into Saturday."

The Met Office has indicated the heaviest rainfall will be across Aberdeenshire, but other areas including Moray, Caithness and Sutherland, Dundee and Angus and parts of Easter Ross could also be at risk of flooding.