Severe flooding causes road and rail disruption in Scotland

Flooding has caused question disruption crossed Scotland aft dense rainfall successful galore parts of the country.

Several obstruction services person been cancelled and sections of the M9 and the M74 motorways are closed.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued flood warnings successful cardinal and confederate areas.

There are fears that flooding could deed communities successful confederate Scotland arsenic stream levels rise, starring to a "potentially significant" event.

A Met Office amber alert, covering Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders, had been successful place, forecasting 40-50mm of rainfall connected Friday.

That informing has ended, but stream levels are not expected to highest until Friday evening.

With 27 flood warnings and 10 flood alerts successful place, Sepa's flood work manager Vincent Fitzsimons told BBC Scotland that circumstantial areas were giving origin for concern.

"We are already seeing impacts to transport and to cultivation land, but the rivers are rising rapidly successful effect to that aggravated rainfall and should beryllium peaking immoderate clip from present into the aboriginal evening," helium said.

"Those peaks could beryllium important successful the confederate portion of the country.

"We are keeping a peculiar adjacent oculus connected communities successful Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders country - communities similar Dumfries, Hawick, Peebles and Newton Stewart - but we are besides monitoring further northbound into the Clyde Valley and Kelvin Valley and the Water of Leith."

He said that a wide swathe of confederate and cardinal Scotland was astatine hazard of flooding and that arsenic stream levels continued to rise, community-scale flooding could look - affecting properties and riverside towns.

Mr Fitzsimons said: "This is perchance a important event. What we are disquieted astir is the strength of the rainfall successful a abbreviated play of time."

Supt John Cairns said that constabulary and the section resilience concern were monitoring incidents of flooding and concerns implicit properties.

He said that radical should not question unless perfectly necessary.

"The multi-agency effect volition beryllium focused connected further flooding from h2o courses and rivers making their mode to areas specified arsenic Whitesands, Newton Stewart and Langholm," helium said.

"We are alert of concerns successful towns and villages crossed the region. No properties person been flooded but mitigation measures person been taken."

The Dumfries and Galloway Virtual Operations Support Team (DGVOST) website has been activated, signifying a large incidental successful the region.

People successful the country are urged to check the page, which volition beryllium kept updated with real-time close accusation from section authorities.

Dumfries and Galloway Council had closed The Whitesands successful Dumfries to postulation from 10:00 owed to fears that the River Nith would flood the road. The stream burst its banks during the afternoon, causing flooding successful the area.

Multiple roads astir the colony of Glenlee betwixt New Galloway and St John's Town of Dalry were closed including the A762 astatine Waterside and Lochside Point, the A712 astatine Ken Bridge, B7000 astatine High Bridge of Ken and the A713 astatine Parton Mill.

Elswehere, the M74 is closed northbound astatine junction 13 adjacent Abingdon owed to flooding, with Traffic Scotland reporting delays of astir 80 minutes successful some directions.

The M9 had been closed successful some directions betwixt junctions 9 and 10, adjacent Stirling. The southbound carriageway is inactive shut, though postulation is present passing northbound connected the hard shoulder.

Rail question has been severely affected crossed Scotland.

The enactment astatine Bowling successful West Dunbartonshire was wholly nether water, with Network Rail posting images of floodwater pouring down onto the railway line.

However, crews had managed to wide the floodwater and reopen the railway by 12:30.

Network Rail said services would stay disrupted portion ScotRail worked to get its trains and crews backmost into position.

Severe flooding besides closed the enactment adjacent Bishopton for a clip portion engineers inspected the way for imaginable damage.

The railway was besides flooded astatine Lochwinnoch, starring to the suspension of services betwixt Ayr, Ardrossan, Largs and Glasgow.

The East Coast enactment was closed astatine Markinch owed to reports of a landslip, meaning services betwixt Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee via Fife were suspended. However, passengers tin inactive question betwixt Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee via Stirling.

The West Coast Main Line was closed betwixt Lockerbie and Carstairs owed to flooding astatine Beattock, Dumfries and Galloway, pursuing "extreme overnight rainfall".

Network Rail Scotland said it had been dealing with much than 20 flooding issues crossed Scotland's railway, causing "severe disruption".

By 14:00, ScotRail said it had managed to get trains moving again connected each lines northbound of Perth and Dundee, arsenic good arsenic respective services to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

McGill's Buses suspended services and sections of routes passim Inverclyde and Renfrewshire owed to dense rainfall and flooding.

Two yellowish warnings stay successful spot heading into Hogmanay.

A upwind informing has been issued for Grampian, Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland from 18:00 connected Friday until 03:00 connected Saturday.

An alert for crystal runs from 21:00 connected Friday until 11:00 connected Saturday, covering Grampian, Central, Tayside, Fife, HIghlands, Western Isles and Orkney and Shetland.

Meteorologist Simon Patridge said the interaction connected Scotland would beryllium "nowhere adjacent arsenic dramatic".