Thousands of homes without power as gale-force winds and heavy rain hit Scotland
More than 5,000 homes are without power in Scotland as gale-force winds and heavy rain from Storm Frank batter the country.
More than 5,000 homes are without power in Scotland as gale-force winds and heavy rain from Storm Frank batter the country.
Met Office amber be prepared'' warnings are in place covering all mainland regions, with the exception of the Highlands, where yellowbe aware'' warnings remain.
And the country is on flood alert with more than 60 flood warnings and 14 alerts issued, covering large parts of Scotland from Aberdeenshire, Moray and Speyside to the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.
The number is expected to increase as the day goes on and conditions deteriorate.
Roads authorities and the coastguard are urging people in the areas that experience severe weather to avoid unnecessary travel.
A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) today confirmed that a total of around 5,500 homes in Scotland were without power.
The areas affected include Shetland, the Western Isles and the west, north and north-east of Scotland.
In Aberdeenshire, around 1,700 homes are without power in areas including Fraserburgh, Kintore, Durris, Cruden Bay, and New Deer.
The spokesman said power would be restored during the day when it is safe for engineers to work.
He said the strong winds caused by Storm Frank had disrupted the network.
He added: Our apologies for the disruption and the inconvenience caused. Our engineers are working as hard as they possibly can to restore supplies where it's safe to do so.''
Communities in the Borders were told to prepare for up to 120mm of rain and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) currently has 18 flood warnings in place for the region, covering areas such as Peebles and Hawick.
More than 20 warnings have been issued for Tayside, while residents in the Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeenshire and Central areas have also been warned of flooding.
Dumfries and Galloway Council has cautioned of the risk of flooding to land and property from rivers in the area, which is expected to result in widespread disruption to travel and infrastructure.
Locations particularly at risk include the Cree valley, the Nith valley and smaller waterways around the Galloway hills. Peak water levels were expected to occur from this morning onwards.
Some residents were evacuated last night from low-lying properties in Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, in a pre-emptive operation ahead of expected flooding from the River Cree.
The council has also cautioned that flooding at the Whitesands area of Dumfries is predicted to exceed levels of flooding seen in the area in 2009, 2013 and 1982.
Meanwhile, road teams from BEAR Scotland were monitoring north-east and north-west trunk roads for any issues caused by the storm, warning of a landslip at the A835 at Garve in the Highlands.
A BEAR Scotland spokeswoman said earlier: It's been a wet and windy night and our teams have been patrolling the north-east and north-west trunk roads in Scotland dealing with any issues brought in by Storm Frank.
Teams are currently en route to investigate a reported landslip estimated at around 50 tonnes on the A835 at Garve, and Police Scotland have advised that the road is closed in both directions for safety until the site can be assessed in daylight.
In the north east some localised flooding is reported on the A9 at Keir Roundabout and our teams are en route to investigate further.
During the night a fallen tree temporarily blocked the A83 north of Lochair, however this was cleared by our landscaping team.
A few minor issues occurred overnight in both the north-west and north-east networks, with a number of trees and debris as well as instances of flooding affecting some routes but were quickly dealt with and cleared by our operatives.''
Richard Brown, the head of hydrology at Sepa, said: The situation is still very much deteriorating. Although we have the 62 flood warnings in effect, we expect a big increase in that number as the morning goes by. Some of the smaller water courses have shown signs of peaking but the rain is going to continue and larger rivers are continuing to rise.''
Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay told the show: We expected challenging conditions and that's turning out to be the case. One of the ongoing issues will be the flood risk because the persistent rain will calm down later on in the day but we're still dealing with the risk of flooding to the transport system and indeed people's homes and businesses.
Ministers met last night and will meet again today. We help coordinate and share information and ensure that all our agencies and partner organisations are connected and doing everything we can to both be resilient and keep the country moving.''
He urged anyone travelling today to check weather information, plan their routes and drive to the conditions.
Flooding forced the closure of roads across the regions and bus, rail and ferry services were all suffering disruption this morning.
Key routes including the M8 and the M74 had lanes and junctions shut due to surface water.
In East Ayrshire, travellers were asked to avoid New Cumnock and there were reports of cars stuck in water at Newark roundabout in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde.
The A83 was closed at Rest and Be Thankful due to a landslide and the A85 was shut after flooding at Crianlarich.
CalMac ferry sailings between Mallaig and Armadale and Oban and Craignure were cancelled, with the Largs to Cumbrae service also suspended.
ScotRail said services between Glasgow and Inverness, Carlisle and Kilmarnock were affected.
A number of properties in affected areas have been evacuated as floodwaters rise.
Ballater in Aberdeenshire was one of the areas hit due to flooding of the River Dee, and people in the village of Straiton in South Ayrshire were also being helped by the fire service to leave their properties.
The A77 south of Girvan at Maybole in Ayrshire was shut due to surface water.
Elsewhere, Glasgow's busy Great Western Road has been closed to eastbound traffic near Gartnavel Hospital due to severe flooding'' and Aikenhead Road in the city's southside was closed to all traffic with several feet of water on the road at one point.