After a week of sunny spells and blistering high temperatures, Scotland is being brought right back down to earth with rain, floods, and lightning disrupting roads and services overnight and into this morning.
With 15 flood alerts, and 2 flood warnings issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Highland areas such as Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire are among those worst affected.
Flood warnings are issued from Spey Dam to Newtonmore, and Newtonmore to Kingussie, meaning that river levels are now rising in response to the overnight rain. Further heavy rain is expected throughout the day and levels will continue to rise.
⚠️ We're responding to a landslip in the Auchterarder area, near Gleneagles. Our Geotechnical and Earthwork Engineers are heading to the site to carry out inspections and we'll provide further updates once we have more information. Check @ScotRail & @LNER for service updates.
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) July 28, 2021
A meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) was held yesterday where Deputy First Minister John Swinney urged caution to Scottish residents in high alert areas.
He said: “Please take extra care if you are out and about, do not attempt to walk or drive through flood water, avoid camping near watercourses and ensure water conditions are safe if spending time in the water.
“The Scottish Government is in close contact with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed.”
READ MORE: Scotland Weather: Met Office issue yellow thunderstorms warning
Railways across the central belt are also being heavily impacted this morning and are disruptions are expected to continue with more rainfall due today.
Scotrail have this morning warned that their trains are operating with speeding restrictions due to the weather, and Network rail informed via social media that they were investigating a landslide in the Auchterader area.
However, Glasgow looks likely to miss the worst of bad weather that the Highlands are experiencing with high temperatures remaining and a low chance of precipitation forecast today and tomorrow.
Scotland’s A83 also re-opened this morning after safety inspections, and teams continue to monitor the hillside conditions on the Rest and be Thankful.
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