Rain And Floods Cause Commuter Chaos In Scotland

Commuters Hit By Rain And Floods Travel Chaos

Commuters faced difficult journeys to work on Tuesday as heavy overnight rain closed roads and disrupted trains.

The central belt and west of Scotland were the worst affected, with drivers told to avoid the Stirling area if possible.

In Glasgow 1.4in (35mm) of rain fell on Monday night - making it the wettest place in Scotland. Around 1in (26mm) of rain also fell in Strathallan, near Stirling. Meanwhile, Tyndrum in Stirlingshire was the wettest place over the past 24 hours, with 1.6in (40mm) of rain falling since 6am on Monday.

The River Endrick burst its banks close to the Drymen Bridge, flooding the A811 and closing it completely. The M9 was also shut to all traffic between Junction 9 and 10 north and south on Tuesday morning, and the A81 was closed between Blanesmithy and Blanefield at Dumgoyne. A stretch of the A8 was also closed between Newark Castle roundabout and the Cartsdyke roundabout.

Central Scotland Fire and Rescue were on Tuesday morning rescuing people who were stuck in their cars because of the flooding - one woman was saved from her car in Callandar, and two cars were helped off the A883 near Falkirk. Drivers across the country were warned of surface water on the roads, and a warning was also issued for high winds on the Clackmannanshire Bridge.

Trains were also disrupted, with no trains stopping at Dumbarton East, no services to and from Wemyss Bay, and no trains between Glasgow Central and Gourock. Trains will instead begin and end their journeys at Port Glasgow. First ScotRail said they were unable to lay on alternative transport because the main road between Port Glasgow and Greenock was closed because of the floods.

The Met Office issued amber weather warnings for Strathclyde, Central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, the south west and Lothian and Borders areas.

A spokesman said the persistent rain would "last well into Tuesday", and added: "This will fall onto already saturated ground, leading to the risk of localised flooding and some travel disruption. The rain will be accompanied by strengthening southerly winds, with severe gales likely in the south west during Tuesday morning."

Brendan Jones, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the rain was caused by mild winds coming off the Atlantic - bringing a lot of moisture in their wake. He said Scotland could only look forward to worsening weather in the coming week, predicting winds of between 75mph and 80mph for the north of the country.

He said: "It is going to stay unsettled for the foreseeable future - and it is looking very windy tomorrow. There are going to be very, very strong winds and lots of rain - and we are going to get colder winds from the west and north west later in the week, bringing sleet and snow on high ground in the north and north west."

Close

What's Hot