Floods recede but more rain forecast across Scotland

The Scottish Government’s emergency resilience committee met yesterday as heavy rain and high winds brought widespread disruption.

A woman believed to have been swept away as she tried to rescue her dog from floodwater was still missing yesterday as the committee co-ordinated relief efforts.

A police search took place for the woman, feared to have been swept into the River Don between Monymusk and Inverurie in Aberdeenshire.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown, lead minister for resilience, said: “The Scottish Government’s resilience arrangements remain activated to ensure appropriate measures are in place, and we will continue to monitor the situation over the course of the weekend.

“Although the situation appears to be improving, we still have flood warnings in place so please take extra care if you are out and about and do not attempt to walk or drive through flood water.”

Pictures and video as Tayside and Fife hit by flooding

Torrential rains caused floods in Edinburgh and the Lothians, Fife, Angus, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire, and cut off power to 581 homes.

Water levels fell yesterday but the Met Office issued a new yellow weather warning for Aberdeen and Angus, bringing the risk of more flooding and disruption today.

Aboyne in Aberdeenshire saw the most rain as 127.6mm fell between 6am on Wednesday and 4am yesterday – almost 150% of the November average of 86.49mm.

Efforts to reconnect power to 581 properties began on Friday, with power restored to most by midnight. The remaining 183 homes were reconnected by yesterday lunchtime.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN)said: “Following the high winds across the north and north-east of Scotland, SSEN dealt with a number of small, localised power cuts. SSEN apologises for any inconvenience caused as engineers worked to safely repair and restore supplies, and thanks customers for their patience during this time.”

In Ballater, where the River Dee reached its second-highest ever level, 40 caravans were moved on Friday night due to the threat of flooding, while caravans in St Cyrus were also evacuated.

Andrew Bowie, Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said: “Things are rough but they are thankfully not as bad as Storm Frank in 2015. The situation is worst up in Deeside, where some people were cut off and houses were flooded.”

In Pitscottie, Fife, three people were rescued by emergency crews using a rubber dinghy as homes came close to flooding.

In Brechin, police visited hundreds of properties to offer safe refuge at a school after the town was badly hit by floods.

Train services were disrupted into yesterday morning, although all routes resumed in the afternoon.

Pascal Lardet, flood duty manager for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), said: “As anticipated, this was a serious and significant flood event, particularly in the north-east.

“We will continue to see some wet weather over the weekend as affected areas recover and our advice remains the same – stay vigilant; keep checking the latest information from Sepa and public partners.”