Flooding brings disruption to parts of Scotland after thunderstorms

Caravans were evacuated and 218 people spent the night in emergency accommodation.

A number of homes were also flooded and many schools closed.

Fife's Local Resilience Partnership (LRP) was activated following a number of incidents across the region.

As well as the incident at Pettycur Bay Holiday Park, police, fire and council services were dealing with flooding issues in Freuchie, Cairneyhill, Cardenden, Kinglassie, Culross and Lochgelly. As a result, a number of road closures were in place and local diversions were in operation.

The main East Coast rail line was also closed due to the landslide.

Superintendent Sandy Brodie from Fife's LRP said: "I want to reassure residents that we are working to get services back up and running as quickly as possible and will continue to monitor the situation. In the interim, I would ask people not to travel unless absolutely necessary."

Homes in North Lanarkshire and Perthshire were also flooded yesterday after torrential storms on Tuesday night.

Perth was deluged with five weeks worth of rain in day - 90mm - and there were no train servies operating from the station yesterday morning.

Scotrail said services were being disrupted, with lightning strikes causing power outages. Trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow were affected, plus those from central Scotland to Perth, Aberdeen and Fife. And more than a dozen schools across the north-east were closed on what should have been some pupils’ first day back after five months.

A family home in Reddingmuirhead near Falkirk was badly damaged after being struck by lightning.

The house lost its roof after catching fire shortly before 4am. Residents said the family escaped unhurt but "have lost everything."

It is thought a butcher's business in the nearby village of Brightons was also hit by lightning around the same time.

On the roads, vehicles were recovered after they were abandoned amid flooding on the M8, which was partly closed for a time but later reopened.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to multiple reports of flooding in the Perthshire area, with many domestic properties affected.

Perth and Kinross Council said several roads in the area were impassable due to flooding.

At 7am, the council tweeted that Feus Road/Marshall Place/Wallace Crescent/Crammond Place/Crieff Road/Glasgow Road and A912 at Bogle Bridge were affected, while surface water was causing problems in many other areas.

Pictures posted on social media showed cars half-submerged in floodwater in streets in Perth.

Heavy flooding also affected Kirkcaldy, with cars parked at the town's Victoria Hospital piled on top of each other after floating.

Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: "The overnight flooding at Victoria Hospital car park is a horrible blow for hardworking NHS staff coming off night shift this morning.

"Many of these healthcare workers depend on their cars to get to work and it's vital they are given immediate advice and practical support from NHS Fife."

An NHS Fife spokesman said: "Our staff have worked tirelessly overnight to manage the unprecedented flooding at our Victoria Hospital site.

"It has been mainly staff, rather than patients, that has been affected by the flooding in car parks A and B and all staff have been provided with transport to get them home safely this morning after their shift.

"A recovery effort is now under way to remove the damaged cars from the car parks and support is being put in place to help those who have been directly impacted by the flooding, with planning well under way to support the scheduled return of staff on shift tonight."

At the storm’s peak, there were dozens of lightning strikes recorded in the north-east every minute, according to Lightningmaps.org.

In Aberdeenshire, Mearns, Mackie and Portlethen academies were all closed, with Alford reporting delays to transport.

Primary schools in Stonehaven, including Dunnottar and Mill O’ Forest, were also shut.

In Aberdeen, Fernielea, Broomhill, Milltimber and Kittybrewster schools, along with Harlaw Academy, were also closed.

Roads around Garthdee, Holburn Street and Great Southern Road were all heavily flooded, with Polmuir Road and the entrance to Duthie Park also underwater.

A number of residents in the city became trapped by the rising water and had to be rescued by dinghy.

There were also reports of flooding at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, the airport and the Bristows helicopter terminal. Police advised motorists to drive only if their travel was necessary.

During Tuesday night, the fire service control room in Edinburgh received more than 500 calls and all flights due to land at Edinburgh Airport were diverted or delayed. BT's incident management team said a major outage at an exchange in Edinburgh, caused by the weather, was affecting about 100,000 customers' broadband on BT, EE and Plusnet in the city and surrounding area.

It was reported at 6.30am and engineers were on site working on the issue.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning of thunderstorms for the eastern half of Scotland which was in force until midnight last night. (WEDS)

It warned that some places are likely to see "further severe thunderstorms", but with "significant uncertainty in location and timing".

The warning covered Central, Tayside and Fife, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling.

Meanwhile, Sepa issued flood warnings for Aberdeenshire, Dundee and Angus and Tayside.

The fire service said a number of homes were flooded in Airdrie, while they also attended flooding on the M8 after the dual carriageway was inundated with water.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We were made aware of flooding on the M8 between junctions five and six in Lanarkshire shortly before 4am on Wednesday August 12.

"No injuries have been reported and officers have assisted partner agencies."