It came from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) as torrential rain continued to impact across the country. An amber alert is in place until 2:00pm for parts of the Highlands and north east of Scotland, but SEPA has now issued its own warning for residents and businesses around the village of Dalfaber. It urged anyone in the area to stay away from floodwater, avoid unnecessary risks and comply with any evacuation orders.

The warning underlined the impact the deluge of rain has had on communities, with roads flooded, and travel severely disrupted.The Met Office has extended its amber alerts across huge parts of Scotland with up to 50mm of rain expected to fall in some part in the next few hours.

Flood duty manager Vincent Fitzsimons said: "It's been a rough weekend across Scotland. Today the focus continues to turn to communities across the North, with a particular concern for severe flood impacts to communities along the Spey and Tay rivers. It's a day to stay alert, not stand down. The risk to life remains."

Oban Mountain rescue Team was called to a number of incidents after floods and landslides in the area (Pic: Oban MRT)

The extreme downfalls - the equivalent of three weeks of rain - have had a significant impact on travel, with several rail lines already closed for the day. Amber alerts are now in place until 2:00pm covering parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland. An amber warning means there is potential risk to life and property.

The warning said: “Another spell of heavy rain is expected to move east across northern Scotland during Sunday morning and clear during the afternoon. A further 20-30 mm of rain could fall fairly widely within the warning area with a few places seeing 40-50 mm, with much of this falling in a 6-9 hour period.”

According to the Met Office, areas of the Highlands and central Scotland could see up to 180mm - seven inches - of rain, while SEPA has issued 48 flood warnings and 17 flood alerts covering Angus, Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, and parts of the Highlands, north-east Scotland and the Scottish Borders.

Oban Mountain Rescue Team was called out to help at several incidents following multiple floods and landslides in the area which left vehicles in a perilous position. It was called to help on the A816 south of Ardfern, and reported everyone was safe.

Travel has also been severely disrupted. Three rail lines are already closed for the entire day. ScotRail took the decision based on the “imminent risk” of the Spey River bursting its banks and flooding the railway: Services hit are the Edinburgh / Glasgow Queen Street - Inverness; Aberdeen - Inverurie; and Inverness - Elgin.

Roads closed include the A83 Tarbet- Lochgilphead due to multiple landslides. Police are at scene and are asking drivers to avoid travelling in Argyll and Bute. Experts are also due to begin assessing the condition of the road after numerous landslips. Ten motorists were rescued by helicopter yesterday near Inveraray in Argyll and Bute after they became trapped between landslides.

The A85 is closed at Lochawe due to a landslip; A828 at Benderloch due to flooding and A9 at Broxden due to flooding. The A816 is also closed due to flooding, and this is causing issues for traffic trying to get to and from Oban to board CalMac Ferries’ services.

Several football matches were postponed yesterday while organisers of the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry cancelled Saturday and Sunday’s events after it was “no longer safe to proceed.” The hugely popular family attraction, set within Faskally Woods, attracts thousands of people to the town. Organisers held an emergency meeting of its health and safety team, and concluded it could not go ahead. Ticket holders will be contacted on Monday to get a refund or exchange for another date.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience caused, but we are sure you will understand that the safety of staff and visitors is of the utmost importance,” the organisers said in a statement issued today.

Organisers of the Dunhill Links, played over St Andrews, Kingsbarns, and Carnoustie, have scrapped today’s schedule with the courses waterlogged. The prestigious competition has now lost its entire weekend schedule, and aims to conclude with a third and final round on Monday.

Scotland’s weather: Oban Mountain Rescue Team called to help after landslides