Conditions set to get worse after torrential rain led to two Highland railway lines closing
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The Met Office has indicated that conditions are set to deteriorate tonight and into tomorrow with weather warnings still in place after transport services across Scotland were hit by severe weather.
In all there are four warnings in place: two amber – indicating that there will be flooding, travel disruption and a potential risk to life – and two yellow – indicating flooding and travel disruption is likely with elevated risks to travel.
The first amber warning stretches from the south west tip of Loch Ness across to Aviemore, then on to Perth and down to Glasgow before taking in a large section of the west coast – that is in force until 06.00 on Sunday.
The second amber warning starts tonight at 21.00 and covers an area from the bottom of Loch Ness to Inverness around the coast to Buckie and south taking in Aviemore, the Grampians and Moray.
The wider yellow warning takes in the entire mainland except most of Sutherland and Caithness – that is in force until 06.00 tomorrow as well but a second warning also was issued.
This new warning takes in almost all of the north and north east but misses out a large part of Sutherland and all of Caithness and stops at the south west end of the Great Glen – this warning is enforce until 15.00
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: “Prolonged heavy rain is causing widespread disruption for much of Scotland. While Saturday into Sunday will be widely very wet for Scotland, the heaviest and most disruptive rain has been affecting western and central Scotland so far, but as our recent warnings indicate this heavy rain will also affect areas to the north and east.
“Within the Amber warning areas 60-80mm of rain is likely, with 180mm or more in total for some of the wettest spots across Argyll. Rain is expected to slowly clear to the north during Sunday. We’ll continue to review warnings so it’s important for everyone to stay up to date with the latest forecast for their area.”
Scotrail warns of more disruption
The Highland Main Line – connecting the Central Belt to Inverness via Perth – is expected to remain closed on Sunday due to levels of rainfall on that route, according to Scotrail.
The rail operator is also warning customers to expect significant disruption on Sunday after some areas saw up to a month’s worth of rain in a 24-hour period resulting in flooding across much of the rail network.
Saturday’s extreme weather saw several lines completely closed – including the Kyle-Inverness line – while others operated a reduced service, like the Far North Line and the Inverness-Aberdeen line.
With so many trains and train crew out of place because of the extreme weather, and to ensure passenger and staff safety, ScotRail services in some parts of the country will wind down around 21.00 tonight.
Network Rail carry out line inspections on Sunday morning so it is expected that the first services in particular will be subject to disruption.
