Scotland hit by severe flooding
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Scotland hit by severe flooding*
Perthshire has been worst hit by the high winds and heavy rain which has
affected many parts of Scotland.
The Loch Tay burst its banks at Kenmore and five other severe flood
warnings were in place in the Perthshire area.
About 1,600 homes were without power in Dumfries and Galloway, South
Ayrshire, Argyll and the west Highlands.
The Erskine Bridge has been closed, while the Tay Bridge was closed to
high-sided vehicles and the Forth Bridge has been open to cars only.
Caledonian MacBrayne said it had cancelled a number of services due to
the adverse weather.
Police reported problems with flooding on the roads in Dumfries and
Galloway, with the A716 Stranraer road closed at Drummore.
Weather forecasters said the north west would continue to be affected by
heavy rain on Monday afternoon, while the south and east would become
brighter.
Waves battered the shoreline at Saltcoats in Ayrshire
The severe gales were also expected to ease down.
However, more rain was anticipated through the night.
About 10mm of rain fell in western and central Scotland between 1800 GMT
and midnight on Sunday, with winds reaching 70mph in the west.
The severe flood warnings issued by Sepa on Monday morning included
Kenmore and Loch Tay, the River Lyon, the River Tummel, the River Isla
and two stretches of the River Tay - from Dunkeld to Perth and from
Kenmore to the A9 road bridge upstream of Dunkeld.
Nine flood warnings were in place in central Scotland and the Highlands,
while there were also 19 flood watches in force.
The flood gates were closed on the River Tay in Perth, where the water
was forecast to peak at 1800 GMT between high tides.
There was also some sandbagging taking place in Aberfeldy and the car
park at Callander had been totally flooded.
David Faichney, Sepa's flood warning unit manager, said: "We are
expecting quite a high flow down the River Tay.
"It's the sort of thing you get once in every five years so it's quite a
significant flood and it will be causing a lot of disruption."