Moray Council Leader urges "only travel if you have to" as flooding hits region

People in Moray are being urged to only travel if necessary as flooding hits the region.

Videos and images shared on social media show how torrential rain in Forres led to flooding .

The bad weather has also hit other parts of Moray as the complex at Silver Sands camp site in Lossiemouth has been forced to close.

An amber weather warning remains in place for central Highland, Moray and Aberdeenshire until tomorrow morning.

Footage taken yesterday shows vehicles making their way down Strathcona Road in Forres, with thunder also being heard in the background.

Moray Council Leader Graham Leadbitter says they've been working alongside emergency services to try and prevent homes from being flooded.

He said: "Our roads teams were very active in the Forres area last night and in other areas of Moray as well.

"They’ll continue to be out, trying to move water, put out warning signs where necessary, shift sandbags around.

"The volume of water that came down there in a short period of time was very significant, and there is a possibility that may happen in other communities.

"These type of showers are a bit more unpredictable so it’s not always possible to know in advance whether it’s going to happen.

"However, the prolonged rain that is forecasted is expected for much of Moray and we can expect to see a lot of rain that’s steady and persistent.

"That has potential to build up surface water.

"There’s no guarantee that we can stop people from being flooded, especially with rapid surface water flooding that can be extremely quick and extremely unaccepted, but as always we will do our best to support people where we can.

"I would certainly urge people to only travel if they have to today, the weather conditions are pretty atrocious.

"One of the biggest risks is people out driving when they don’t need to be.

"Accidents not only create serious injury or worse, but also block the roads and prevent emergency services tackling the flooding issues."

The complex at Silver Sands camp site in Lossiemouth is closed as staff try to clean the club.

They said: "Due to the extreme weather and the complex flooding we will be closed in the complex until further notice whilst the staff try hard to clear and sanitise the club.

"The site itself will remain open."

The Mosset Tavern's car park was also hit with flooding, but they say most of the water has now subsided.