Flooding fears as water levels rise

RESIDENTS were braced for a fresh bout of flooding today as workers battled to prevent the Water of Leith bursting its banks.

Contractors were out from the early hours of this morning monitoring water levels and removing debris from the flood prevention works at Arboretum Avenue in Stockbridge as levels rose during continuing heavy rain.

By 8am this morning the water level had risen to a foot below Falshaw Bridge and was nearly level with the bank along several sections.

One man, who has lived in the area for 11 years but asked not to be named, said: "This is the worst I have seen it. It's within a foot of the bridge. It often goes down quickly but it can be volatile. It's pretty wild."

A team from Lagan Construction began working on the flood defences in the early hours and one worker said they were expecting levels to rise further this afternoon when the tide comes in.

In some parts of Scotland more rain has fallen in the last two days than normally seen in the average month of August.

This morning a total of 29 flood warnings and 14 flood alerts remained in place from SEPA.

Flooding caused disruption or cancellation to a number of rail services during the morning rush hour, with services being reduced to half hourly between Edinburgh and Glasgow and a reduced service on the East Coast mainline.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said further rain was forecast across Scotland for the next few days.

He said: "Heavy rain overnight and today has caused some disruption to rail services this morning with some delays and cancellations but Network Rail and ScotRail are working to reduce the disruption and expect the services to improve throughout the day.

"I would urge the travelling public today to check with their transport operator or the Traffic Scotland website before they travel to ensure minimal disruption to their journey."

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail's managing director, said: "We ran 86% of services across Scotland this morning, despite extraordinary rainfall levels in some areas.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the disruption. Our website has all the latest updates on our services."

Drivers on the A7 Midlothian to Edinburgh were warned to take care, as the road has been badly affected by standing water at Summerside, on the northern side of the Sheriffhall roundabout.

Reports suggested it was passable with care, and motorists were urged to use caution given the rainy conditions.

Midlothian Council has mobilised tankers and special pumping equipment to try and clear the standing water.

In Edinburgh the council said its flood teams were on standby across the city. Localised flooding has been reported in Balerno but no other major issues have been reported at this stage. Staff are helping residents where needed.

Residents are being asked to take care around the city's waterways which remain swollen.

City Transport Leader Cllr Gordon Mackenzie said: "The Council's flood teams have been monitoring reservoir and river levels over the past 24 hours. Whilst flow rates are high, the risk of flooding from rivers and streams is currently low. We are also monitoring a number of hotspots across the city where localised road flooding is a risk. Teams have attended a number of locations to provide assistance."

"Although water levels appear to be dropping I would ask people to remain vigilant around the city's rivers which are very full and are flowing fast."

In East Lothian SEPA issued a warning about imminent flooding for the River Esk at Musselburgh, with local residents urged to take imminent and immediate action is required to protect themselves and their property.

Met Office forecaster John Hammond said that 40-50mm of rain was expected to have fallen in the Lothians yesterday and that a further 15-25mm was forecast to fall today.

He said: "Most of the rain we are going to see fell yesterday, although there is between 15mm and 25mm forecast to fall in the Edinburgh area today.

"Moving on to Friday we're looking at more lighter showers. There could be isolated patches of flooding.

"There is also a lot of moisture in the air, so it will feel a little humid, with temperatures at around 19C today, rising perhaps to 20C tomorrow and 18C on Saturday."

The Met Office issued an amber alert saying it expected severe weather in Lothian.