Aberdeen flash floods cause chaos in city

Cars are caught in flash flooding on Polmuir Road in Aberdeen after torrential rain hit the city. Picture: Hemedia

The downpours affected a number of roads across the city and saw some cars partly submerged by the flooding.

The fire service said it received more than 40 calls in the space of 90 minutes this afternoon, all relating to the severe weather. In one incident, they led 30 children to safety from a nursery.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Aberdeen Airport were some of the other places which experienced flooding following the heavy rain.

A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said: “Due to the extremely heavy rain in Aberdeen ... there are several on-going flooding and roads issues.

“Aberdeen City Council has mobilised teams and will be running operations through the night to check the safety of the main roads.

“Teams will not be able to check for damage until the flooding has subsided.

“As the rain is more persistent than forecast, motorists on their way to work in the morning are advised to be aware there might still be problems with flooding and roads.”

To the north of the city, Jesmond Drive is closed due to part of the road having collapsed.

Roads in the city centre and beach area have been particularly affected, along with Ferryhill and near the River Dee, the council said.

Streets known to be affected by flooding include Polmuir Gardens, Jack’s Brae, Holburn Street, Anderson Drive, Market Street (south-bound between Virginia Street junction and Union Square turn-off), Hardgate, Portree Avenue, Froghall Road and Golf Road.

Roads are likely to be affected for several hours.

The Tullos Road depot has had extra vehicles out, including gully cleaners.

Motorists are being asked to be cautious driving through floods if they cannot see the road surface because several man-hole covers and gully covers are known to have lifted.

The council said it has been delivering sandbags to homes and businesses in the affected areas.

Elsewhere in the city, Aberdeen Airport tweeted that the terminal was flooded due to the weather conditions.

“Our team is continuing to work hard clearing the terminal. Flights are currently running as normal and we will continue to update you,” the airport’s Twitter feed said.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said its crews have been responding to a number of flooding-related incidents in Aberdeen.

Shortly after 3.30pm, firefighters were called to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Crews were faced with “severe flooding” in the basement and sub-basement area. Firefighters worked to pump the water away and divert it from the building.

At 3.40pm, the service was called to Fountainhall Nursery in St Swithin’s Street to deal with flooding in the basement.

Around 30 children were evacuated from the building as the incident progressed.

Just 10 minutes later, crews were called to an incident on Holburn Street where a man had become stranded in his vehicle due to the flood waters. He was later helped out of his vehicle.

The service also responded to a number of automatic fire alarm calls and reports of flooding in other areas, including Kepplestone Gardens and Union Grove.

Station manager Charlie Watt said: “We have our incident command room set up at Mounthooly and we are liaising closely with our partner agencies to help as many of the people affected as possible.”