FLASH floods, torrential rain and thunderstorms forced residents from their houses and left parts of Scotland under water yesterday.
An elderly couple were evacuated from their West Lothian home in an inflatable boat after the downpour caused a burn to burst its banks.
And the fire service received reports of homes engulfed by 6ft of water.
There were hundreds of callouts
across the Lothians, with a number of elderly people being taken to hospital for treatment.
The chaos, which centred around Broxburn in West Lothian, came after parts of Lanarkshire were hit by wild weather which left cars submerged in the streets.
Meteorologists said the saturated conditions meant further rain risked serious flooding.
Four people and a dog were rescued by boat from a block of flats in Broxburn's West Main Street.
The residents were trapped in their homes, surrounded by deep water, the fire service said.
Another elderly woman in a wheelchair was rescued from her home and received medical treatment from ambulance crews.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said attempts to get sandbags had been affected by yesterday's industrial action by council staff.
The bags were eventually located after an emergency flood group, including firefighters, police and West Lothian Council was set up.
A fire service spokeswoman said: "It has been absolute mayhem overnight. We have had numerous reports of flooding and dozens of homes affected. A few elderly people have been rescued from their homes and required hospital treatment."
Claire Austin, a meteorologist with MeteoGroup, said more rain was forecast.
The full article contains 261 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
