Big chill set to follow Scotland's torrential rain downpour

Oct 26 2008 By Grace Macaskill

TORRENTIAL downpours caused travel chaos yesterday with ferries cancelled and roads closed due to floods and accidents.

The west of Scotland suffered the worst downpours while coastguards at Stornoway said winds hit Force 11with gusts of up to 97mph in Shetland.

A spokesman said: "A storm like this happens once every winter. But last time I looked out of the window it was autumn."

The Met Office said 30mm of rain fell in west central Scotland between 7am and 6pm.

But the big flood is likely to be followed by a big freeze with temperatures plummeting over the next few days.

Forecaster Chris Almond said: "While it has been very wet, it has been warm but by Tuesday, temperatures could be as low as 6C with a chance of snow."

Last night the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency - SEPA - had flood watches on rivers all over the country.

Transport was disrupted as surface water made driving difficult. Bridges were also shut to high-sided vehicles.

A three-car accident on the M8, just outside Glasgow, caused hour-long tail-backs in the morning while a two vehicle crash on the A923 Coupar Angus Road in Tayside caused delays in the afternoon. No one was seriously injured.

The Albion Rovers football team got a fright when winds ripped out a rooflight window of their coach on the road to Berwick.

Manager Paul Martin said: "It shot 300 yards into a field. It was recovered and taped back on but it blew off again on the drive home."

The rivers Teith and Leny burst their banks, flooding parks in Callander, Perthshire. Gales left 1300 holidaymakers stranded in their Thompson Holidays cruise ship in Liverpool dock.

In Tayside and Central there were flood warnings on the River Lyon, which joins the Tay.

There were also flood watches on the River Earn and Upper Tay, with bursts possible in Callander and Stirling. The Tay Road Bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles.

In the Borders flood alerts were in place across much of the region last night. At West Linton, the B7059 Bogsbank Road was closed by a fallen tree.

Dumfries and Galloway was one of the wettest places. Warnings were in place for Clatteringshaws Loch on the River Dee and The Solway Firth from the Esk estuary to the Mull of Galloway.

Grampian escaped the worst of the weather and Fife was wet but not as windy as other places. The Forth Road Bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles.

Strathclyde was Scotland's other wet spot. Alerts were in place for the Firth of Lorn coast from Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point.

Port Ellen, Islay, Jura and the Mull of Kintyre were all at risk of flooding.

There were concerns over the Firth of Clyde bursting its banks and the Dunoon and Rothesay ferries were off.

The Highlands were battered by 85mph winds and flood watches were in place for Strathglass, Beauly, Conon, Easter Ross, Ness and Loch Ness.

SUNDAY EMAIL

g.macaskill@sundaymail.co.uk