Travel chaos as ‘month’s worth of rain’ hits Scotland amid flood warnings

Travel disruption has plagued rail lines as a “month’s worth of rain” has battered parts of Scotland amid a yellow weather warning.

The Met Office yellow alert warned of a risk of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.

The warning is in place from 12pm on Wednesday until 6pm on Thursday and covers the majority of Scotland.

STV meteorologist Sean Batty has said Scotland should brace for a month’s worth of rain within 24 hours.

ScotRail has been forced to introduce speed restrictions on a number on routes as the heavy rain continues to hit parts of Scotland.

The rail operator said that restrictions will cover both both the East and West Coast Mainlines, as well as parts of the Highland Mainline, Shotts, and Dumfries lines.

“What can’t be ignored though is that some of our computer models have been indicating totals as high as 150mm – which can be taken as a worst case scenario,” he said.

“With average rainfall totals for May around 50-70mm for the east of Scotland it’s very likely that many will see a month’s worth of rain, and in some spots possibly a lot more than that in 24 hours.”

The Met Office warned of a chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses.

There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings, and where flooding occurs, there is a chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services.

Spray and flooding could also lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures with the risk that some communities will become cut off by flooded routes.

One person has died in a mudslide as rain continues to batter parts of the UK, with the worst of the weather “yet to come”.

North Yorkshire Police said a person died following a mudslide in Carlton-in-Cleveland at around 1.15pm on Wednesday afternoon.

After a fairly prolonged settled period for much of the country things are about to change in the next 24 hours with a low pressure system rolling out of Germany and moving into Scotland on Wednesday afternoon.

Windier conditions will develop during Wednesday with the strongest winds along the north and east coast and gales over the hills.

The main issue will be heavy thundery rain which will move west throughout Wednesday and into Thursday with significant totals and flooding possible.

The east of the country will see the highest totals with 30-40mm falling quite widely and up to 80mm in some spots. What can’t be ignored though is that some of our computer models have been indicating totals as high as 150mm – which can be taken as a worst case scenario.

With average rainfall totals for May around 50-70mm for the east of Scotland it’s very likely that many will see a month’s worth of rain, and in some spots possibly a lot more than that in 24 hours.

This is likely to lead to some flooding issues on Wednesday night and into Thursday, especially after the recent drier conditions which will have hardened the ground a little in some areas, which leads to increased run-off.

For those thinking ahead to the holiday weekend, it does look like it should settle back down with a lot of dry weather on Saturday, although some showers will return on Sunday and Monday.

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