Flood-hit Scotland stretches brigades

Fire crews in central Scotland and Fife dealt with a large number of calls about flooding as roads and residential homes were hit.

Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service said that it experienced one of its busiest nights after it received around 30 calls from anxious members of the public facing flooding.

The Falkirk, Larbert and Grangemouth areas were said to have been the worst affected, as were parts of Fife and North Lanarkshire.

Fire crews in Fife said they took between 50 and 60 calls from Friday evening onwards, mostly relating to flooding on the roads in Dunfermline and west Fife.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency currently has four flood warnings and 20 flood watches in place across Scotland.

A spokesman for the Central Scotland fire service said crews were still attending a few incidents yesterday morning, which they had been at throughout the night.

He said: "People were asking for our assistance to deal with properties which have been flooded and to assist with the operation to put sandbags down and try to divert flood waters from properties.

"It was extremely busy, probably one of the busiest nights for a long time in the service, certainly when we came on and started our shift at 6pm. It was an extremely busy shift."

Fife Fire Service said it was called to incidents in Dunfermline, Ballingry and Rosyth between 4.30pm and midnight on Friday.

A spokeswoman said: "The worst areas were mainly in west Fife around Dunfermline, and also at Ballingry and Rosyth.

"Quite a few roads were closed, although there were some houses affected as well."

Strathclyde crews said it had "calmed down" following flood calls to Kilsyth, Kirkintilloch, Cumbernauld and Newton Mearns.