Scotland wetter than a Mumbai monsoon

The Inverness area was worst hit, with 50mm of rain overnight into yesterday. Dundee saw similar levels of rainfall, while Edinburgh suffered 32mm and Glasgow 20mm. In Mumbai, where it is the middle of monsoon season, there was 24mm of rain yesterday.

Last night forecasters said the North-east of Scotland faced the threat of further heavy rain today and warned that the west coast was likely be hit by severe weather later this week.

Almost all mainland Scotland saw rain yesterday and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had flood warnings in place for Arbroath and the River Isla in Tayside throughout the day, with lesser flood alerts for Aberdeenshire, central and west central Scotland, Edinburgh and the Lothians, Fife and the Borders.

The A9 southbound was closed for almost three hours at Drumossie, near Inverness, yesterday morning, while Northern Constabulary reported flash flooding across the region. Grampian and Tayside Police also reported localised flash flooding.

Scottish infrastructure secretary Alex Neil said: "The road closed at 9:30am to ensure the safety of motorists but a local diversion was put in place and it reopened just before midday.

"We are monitoring the effects of the rain and our road operating companies are standing ready to deal with any localised disruption that occurs."

At the Belladrum musical festival near Inverness, torrential overnight rain led to Red Cross volunteers being called in to help campers who were flooded out of their tents.

The charity said more than 60 people, mainly families with young children, were moved into a makeshift centre in a performance tent on higher ground by 5am.

Emergency supplies of blankets and heaters were brought in from a Red Cross store at Dalcross, 22 miles away, to help bring some comfort.

Ian Rideout, from the charity, said: "The fields at Belladrum were already soaked after heavy rain on Thursday and Friday.

"A series of torrential showers overnight on Saturday and into this morning saturated the ground, causing localised flooding. The festival ended last night and those still camping are heading home today.

"Roads in the area are passable, but many vehicles on the festival site are bogged down, stranding their owners."

Northern Constabulary Chief Inspector Jim Neil, the officer in charge of policing the festival, said that the weather also contributed to long tailbacks as people left the area.

Another early casualty of the severe weather was the Montrose Highland Games, which was cancelled. Organisers said the conditions meant it was impossible to hold any competitions.

On Saturday, 35m of rain fell in Durham and 37mm in Albemarle, north-east England.

Emergency services in Durham dealt with several weather-related incidents, and Northumberland was also affected.

A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said it had received between 60 and 100 calls relating to the weather as the band of rain moved over.

In Northern Ireland, three properties in the Claremount Gardens area of Warrenpoint were flooded as a result of torrential rainfall and flash flooding, which affected the local wastewater pumping station.

THE FORECAST

THE north of Scotland will continue to experience prolonged and heavy rain today, particularly in the north-east.

For the rest of the country, any rain will turn patchy and lighter during the day. Tuesday will see some respite from the wet weather, with the whole of country enjoying a dry but cooler day, although the winds will be stronger than of late.

The next rain will move in overnight on Wednesday, with the west coast set to receive the worst. A Met Office alert is in place for the south-west of Scotland.