Storm Desmond contuinues to cause disruption across Scotland

Published 5th Dec 2015

Storm Desmond has caused flooding and landslides, which has brought disruption to travel across Scotland.

Some homes have been evacuated as rivers burst their banks in the Borders and Tayside.

Dumfries and Galloway Council says it's preparing for flooding similar to that which hit the region in 2009.

Early on Saturday, Red Cross volunteers were called out to set up and run a rest centre for people evacuated from their flood-threatened homes in Hawick.

Robert Colburn, operations director for East Scotland, said: 'We now have a dozen volunteers working shifts at the rest centre. Most of the evacuated residents have been contacting relatives and friends to arrange temporary accommodation but we have been told to expect to have up to 20 people staying overnight.'

The majority of Scottish football matches were postponed due to waterlogging and winds also had an impact on Renfield Street in Glasgow city centre, closed for a time as part of the Cineworld roof came loose.

On the roads, a jack-knifed FedEx lorry hit the central reservation on the M8 at Bathgate, West Lothian, closing lanes in both directions.

And a landslide from a hill above Altura, in the Highlands, dumped at least 200 tonnes of debris on the A82 between Spean Bridge and Invergarry.

The M90 and M9 have also been hit by standing water as deep as 3ft in places.

The Scottish Government's resilience committee met to discuss steps being taken to address the impact of the flooding.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: 'We have seen exceptional rainfall, caused in part by rising temperatures and rapid snow melt, combined with gale force winds.'

He added: 'It is clear that people across Scotland are experiencing some challenging situations and we will do all we can to help them at this stressful time. Local authorities, Police Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and resilience teams are all involved in the efforts to mitigate the impacts of flooding and weather issues across the country.'

Marc Becker, Sepa's duty hydrology manager, said: 'We are particularly concerned that the flooding situation will deteriorate further this evening in Tayside and particularly the south west of Scotland and the Borders. The risk to communities in Hawick and Newcastleton are such that Sepa, in discussion with emergency responders, have issued severe flood warnings for both towns. Impacts will include widespread property flooding, evacuations, damage to infrastructure and severe transport disruption.'

He added: 'Currently, it is anticipated that the Tay at Perth will peak at levels not seen since 2006 and the Ettrick at Hawick is anticipated to be of a similar scale to the 2005 flood event. Flood levels on the Annan and Esk (Dumfries and Galloway) may also approach record levels.'