Scotland weather: Wettest October on record for some as downpours continue

This month is set to go down in the record books as the wettest October ever in some parts of Scotland, with some unlucky spots suffering almost a foot of rain.

October has seen a series of downpours

A yellow severe weather warning only expired at 3am today following yet another weekend of endless deluges.

Aberdeenshire Council begged motorists not to drive through flooded roads which had been closed for safety reasons.

And in bizarre scenes in the north east, bemused motorists had to plough through streets filled with foam after the natural phenomenon blew in acres of froth from the sea at Lossiemouth in Moray.

Nearby, waves the height of houses were blown over sea defences at Cullen harbour by 60mph winds.

Meteorologists have had to re-write 200-year-old record books after biblical amounts of rain pummelled the east coast on three different occasions this October.

Heavy rainfall events took place on the weekend of October 7 and 8, followed by ‘unprecedented’ downpours during the previous weekend during the lethal Storm Babet.

With the rain still falling yesterday, the storm-hit county of Angus has endured close to a foot of rain since October 1.

The City of Dundee has recorded 241.1mm (9 and a half inches) Aberdeenshire 234mm (nine inches) and flood-hit Angus has suffered 291.8mm (11 and a half inches).

New records have also been established in Fife which has seen 187.5mm (over seven inches) and the current heavy rainfall should see the east of Scotland generally record its wettest October ever. The record, from 2020, is 212.3mm and the current reading is 211.4mm. Perth and Kinross is seeing its third wettest on record so far, at 253.2mm (10 inches).

The rainfall records broke the previous ones set in 1932 (Aberdeenshire) 1982 (Angus) 1954 (Fife) and 2020 (Dundee). Records began in 1836.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency yesterday issued a slew of warnings of varying severity for communities up and down the east coast. By the afternoon, it had 11 flood alerts in place, with 18, more serious, flood warnings.

Aberdeenshire Council used X, formerly Twitter, to appeal to motorists to curb their behaviour after the region was inundated by heavy rain.

It said: ”A number of Aberdeenshire roads have significant standing water this morning and some have been closed as a result of localised flooding. Please do not drive through heavily-flooded sections of the network.”

Some Scotrail routes on the east coast were reduced to a shuttle service and Network Rail Scotland said it was forced to introduce speed restrictions on many lines, including Dundee to Aberdeen, Cupar to Leuchars, Perth to Pitlochry and Muir of Ord to Wick.

Areas of southern England and Wales have been put on alert for Storm Ciaran later this week, when ‘significant coastal flooding’ could be caused by winds gusting to 90mph. Guisers can look forward to some perfect conditions tomorrow night, when clear skies will emerge for Hallowe’en.