Wet, wet, wet . . . July's average rain falls in a day

Published on Tuesday 20 July 2010 19:01

MEMORIES of the driest six months since 1941 were washed away by a downpour which saw parts of Scotland deluged by almost a month's rainfall in just ten hours.

The rain left many areas flooded and saw the Met Office issue warnings that some rivers could burst their banks.

Fire crews were called in to pump water from about 100 homes and businesses in Perth after the worst flooding in the city centre since 1993.

The Met Office said that 50mm of rain fell on Perth during a ten-hour spell on Tuesday into Wednesday – almost the entire rainfall expected during July (about 60mm).

Edinburgh, which gets an average of 79mm during July, had 22mm in four hours yesterday. Aberdeen, which gets on average 61mm of rain for July, had 25mm over ten hours, but Glasgow, which gets an average of 125mm during July, had just 12mm.

Flooding also disrupted road and rail travel in Tayside.

Flash warnings of heavy rain were issued by the Met Office for large parts of Aberdeenshire, Moray, Tayside, Fife, Lanarkshire and the Lothians.

Last night the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said rainfall in July for much of Scotland is already close to or above the long-term average. It had three flood warnings in place, on the River Almond from Almondbank to the River Tay; The River Isla from Bridge of Ruthven to the River Tay; and the River Ericht from Blairgowrie to the River Isla, as well as 17 flood watches across the country.

The worst affected area was central Perth where Tayside Fire and Rescue drafted in appliances from around the region to deal with the drenched "Fair City".

Properties in Feus Road, Fairfield Avenue, Scott Street and High Street suffered the most with the basements of shops and hotels under several feet of water.

The B898 Dalguise Road by Dunkeld was also closed.

Alastair Low, who stays in Feus Road, said he was woken up by noises in his house's pipework: "I woke up at 5.30am and saw all the sewage coming back into the bathroom.

"I looked outside and it was full of floods.

"I called the police and the response from the emergency services has been good but its just got worse and worse as the day went on."

Stuart Edgar, area manager for Tayside Fire and Rescue, said: "The flood water is not nice as it's full of sewage as well, so when it comes into a house it's devastating for the people. Our hearts go out to them."

As the downpours continued Scottish Water said it had withdrawn its application for a drought order for Black Esk reservoir after the heavy rain replenished water levels and ensured that supplies in the Annandale and Eskdale areas were back to normal.

The company also suspended its application for a drought order at the Penwhirn reservoir, which serves customers in Wigtownshire. A spokesman said: "This area has had some of the driest weather experienced in generations, with rainfall levels for several months being well below normal.

"Through the support of our customers and the sustained rain in the last few weeks our reservoir levels are rising."

Traffic Scotland advised drivers to take extra care on the roads yesterday with 15mm of rain falling in three hours in some parts and up to 30mm over longer periods.

Weather experts said to expect prolonged heavy rain throughout the night but that Scotland should become drier with some sunshine later today.