‘Danger to life’ as amber weather warnings in place in northern Scotland

Amber weather warnings for heavy rain and flooding are in force in northern Scotland as Scotland is braced for a day of travel disruption on the last day of the year.

Train operator ScotRail said its services were being disrupted by speed restrictions on many routes because of “very heavy rainfall”.

The routes affected are between: Inverness and Perth; Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh; Inverness and Wick; Perth and Stirling; Edinburgh and Inverness; Glasgow Queen Street, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth; and Glasgow Queen Street, Oban and Mallaig.

Network Rail said it has closed the Highland Main Line at Kingussie because of “more extreme rainfall overnight”.

It also closed the line north of Inverness, between Muir of Ord and Dingwall.

Yesterday, Edinburgh’s main Hogmanay celebrations were cancelled in the face of the weather warnings.

Earlier today, the risk of severe flooding in Highlands communities was downgraded after less rain fell overnight than expected.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued an alert for “severe” flooding just after 6am, telling residents in the Aviemore and Dalfaber areas to “act now”; however, this was downgraded by 7.45am with no “severe” flood warnings in place.

Highlands Council had previously advised guests staying at Aviemore Holiday Park to seek alternative accommodation due to the “imminent” risk of flooding, while Sepa had predicted that evacuations were expected.

The watchdog previously said river levels began to rise on Tuesday morning, rather than overnight as expected.

Sepa added: “Overnight, water levels on the River Spey did not rise as expected. It did begin to rise early on Tuesday morning and that will continue into the day. Less rain fell overnight than was forecast, but is continuing to affect the area.”

But by 7.45am, there were no “severe” flood warnings in Scotland and the warning was downgraded.

However, 31 flood warnings were issued by Sepa, and 10 flood alerts were issued.

The Met Office amber weather warning predicts rain on Hogmanay in the Highlands, with a yellow weather warning for snow covering Glasgow and another yellow warning for snow covering Orkney.