Scotland Set For More Rain, Met Office Warns
Forecasters have issued warnings for rain in parts of Scotland - some in areas which have already seen heavy downpours causing flooding.
Around 90 properties were evacuated and hundreds of homes left without power yesterday while several motorists were rescued from their vehicles in Alyth in Perthshire.
Elsewhere, heavy rain forced the suspension of play for several hours at the 144th Open Championship in St Andrews, Fife.
The Met Office has issued yellow "be aware'' warnings for rain in Perth and Kinross and Stirling regions and much of western Scotland today.
The persistent and sometimes heavy rain is expected to be accompanied by strong winds and the warning is valid until around 1pm, the Met Office said.
Flood warnings from Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) also remained in place for Tayside while there were flood alerts for Aberdeenshire and western Scotland.
The flooding in Alyth saw the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) helping to evacuate people from 70 flooded properties in one street and from 20 properties in another road.
Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) said 756 homes in the village had been left without power but engineers had reconnected many households by last night.
Around 200 customers were thought to still be without supply. A company spokesman said a bridge over the Alyth Burn that carried cables was washed away.
Elsewhere in Perthshire, five properties in Bankfoot were evacuated due to flooding, while fire crews also attended reports of flooding in Perth, Blairgowrie, Glen Isla and Coupar Angus.
Richard Brown, head of hydrology at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), urged people to remain vigilant. He said: ''Overnight into Saturday, a further band of rain is due to affect areas of Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, Glasgow and west central Scotland, with the most intense, prolonged showers expected on Saturday morning.
''Skye and Lochaber are expected to experience significant rainfall totals overnight and throughout Saturday, with over 80mm of rain forecast. Again, surface water flooding has the potential to cause widespread disruption on road networks and urban areas, while river levels are likely to respond quickly, with some minor disruption possible in rural areas.
''Whilst large waves are expected along the west coast, particularly around the Inner Hebrides, the risk of coastal flooding remains very low.''
The Met Office warning said: "Persistent and sometimes rather heavy rain will develop again across parts of western Scotland on Friday evening, lasting into the first part of Saturday.
"The rain will be accompanied by strong west or southwesterly winds, with gales especially along some exposed coasts this evening and for a time overnight. Gusts of wind may exceed 55mph there, but more widely 35 to 45mph inland. "The public should be aware of possible minor impacts to transport and travel, resulting from either wind or rain, the latter not helped by the fact that the ground is saturated.''