Sun or storms, Scotland gets an east-west weather divide

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 20:51

SCOTLAND experienced an east-west weather split yesterday: many basked in sunshine, while others sheltered from thunderstorms.

Parts of the east coast clung on to the sunny weather, with temperatures reaching 25C in Aberdeen.

However, in the west Highlands, Western Isles, Strathclyde and central Scotland the hot and humid conditions turned to heavy rain and the mercury dropped to about 17C.

Up to an inch of rain fell in some parts, and forecasters said the wet spell was likely to last for a few days, leading to flooding.

A shopping centre in Inverness was evacuated after a lightning strike caused a power failure.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "The radar picture showed a clear east-west divide. There were showers right across to the Moray Firth, but into Aberdeenshire it died out.

"If you do catch these showers there are likely to be issues with that amount of water falling in a short space of time where drainage systems may struggle to cope. Some places are going to have temporary issues with surface water."