Scottish football on match postponement alert as Storm Babet set to bring heavy rain to parts of country

Scottish football clubs are on alert due to the potential for the weekend’s fixture card to be disrupted by Storm Babet.

Numerous weather warnings are in place from Thursday to Saturday across much of Scotland due to Storm Babet with strong winds and heavy rain being forecast. The cinch Premiership resumes this weekend, with five matches scheduled for Saturday: Aberdeen v Dundee, Kilmarnock v Livingston, Rangers v Hibs, Ross County v St Mirren and St Johnstone v Motherwell. Hearts v Celtic is on Sunday afternoon, while there are full Championship, League One and League Two matches planned for Saturday afternoon.

The worst of the weather is due to hit Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth and Dundee on Thursday and Friday, with a red weather warning issued for the north-east of Scotland. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning for "exceptional" rainfall in that part of the country and potential risk to life. While conditions are expected to have improved by kick-offs, the club and relevant authorities will monitor the situation closely. Safety of fan travel will be taken into consideration, with Scotrail cancelling all eastern train services in the Inverness area down to the Fife circle until Saturday morning. Yellow warnings are in place across much of Scotland until Saturday lunchtime.

The Premiership season has already been affected by the weather, with Dundee’s match at home to Ross County two weeks ago postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. There are concerns that the heavy rainfall forecast for Scotland could result in some surfaces being deemed unplayable, with matches in the areas at most risk of flooding across the SPFL card including Aberdeen v Dundee (6pm evening kick-off), St Johnstone v Motherwell, Arbroath v Raith Rovers, Cove Rangers v Montrose and Elgin City v Forfar Athletic.