Flooding in parts of the central belt of Scotland has brought train services to a halt and resulted in warnings about treacherous driving conditions.

At 5pm there were 66 live train cancellations within the central belt with disruption on ScotRail expected till the end of the day.

Nine flood alerts and seven flood warnings have been issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which has urged Scots to prepare for potential flooding around rivers, the sea and any surface water in areas in the west of Scotland.

The Herald:

Network Rail Scotland confirmed there was flooding at a number of locations between Glasgow Queen Street & Croy/Cumbernauld, including at Lenzie (above), where the line has been closed.

ScotRail confirmed that due to flooding of the railway between Helensburgh Central and Cardross all lines are closed. Disruption is expected until the end of the day. 

A landslip between Helensburgh Upper and Garelochhead meant part of the West Highland Line was closed.  Train services between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig and Oban are delayed or revised.

Train services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh via Shotts were suspended following heavy rain flooding the railway between Shotts and Hartwood.  Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Paisley Gilmour Street and Kilwinning all lines are expected to be disrupted till the end of the day.  It means train services between Glasgow Central and Ayr will be cancelled or revised while  journeys between Glasgow Central and Ardrossan Harbour and Largs will be terminated at and started back from Kilwinning.

There was also disruption to services due to heavy rain flooding on the railway between Barrhead and Kilmarnock.

In Ayrshire, Glengarnock has been hit by flooding while roads around Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire are under water after the River Garncok burst its banks.

The Herald:

SEPA's flood alert map reveals the area covered by various warnings.

North Ayrshire Council said that heavy rainfall and flooding has led to a local road closure in  Skelmorlie (A78) and flooding in the Garnock Valley area.

A council spokesman said: "This has also created challenging driving conditions, please take care and drive safely."

Areas on flood alert  include Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Easter Ross and Great Glen, Skye and Lochaber, Tayside, West Central Scotland and Wester Ross.

SEPA has said that people living in any of these regions should remain alert and vigilant of the conditions worsening.

The Met Office has put a yellow weather warning in place for rain from 6am this morning to 11.59pm this evening.

Forecasters anticipate that around 100mm of rainfall could potentially fall in some areas of the country.