Flood alerts have been issued for Tayside and Fife amid warnings of heavy and persistent rainfall.
Home and business owners have been told to brace for flooding when the worst of the deluge hits on Saturday evening, with travellers facing significant disruptions.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for rain across an area of Tayside extending north of Dundee to cover much of Angus, along with the eastern part of Perth and Kinross, and Aberdeenshire.
Sepa has also issued 11 flood alerts, including across Tayside and Fife.
Video of the latest Met Office weather forecast is above this article
Angus and parts of Aberdeenshire are expected to be worst affected and some communities could be cut off by flooded roads.
The alert will be in force from 6pm on Saturday until 6am on Sunday.
Perth and Kinross Council has closed all the flood gates in Perth’s South Inch until Monday in preparation.
Following the MET Office amber warning for rain this weekend we have closed all the flood gates on the South Inch. We will look at re-opening on Monday 5th October weather permitting.
— Perth & Kinross Council (@PerthandKinross) October 2, 2020
In Alyth, which was affected by flooding in August, the council has distributed sandbags to three locations.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said: “We have delivered four pallets of sandbags to Alyth today for residents to help themselves so they can protect their homes.
“There is one at The Square, two at the bottle bank on Mill St and one at the car parking area at 64A Springbank.”
A yellow rain warning is in place for large swathes of the UK, including Fife, during the same period.
Fife’s main hospital has closed two of its car parks as a precautionary measure.
The action at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy follows incredible scenes during Storm Francis in August when vehicles were found floating around in floodwater after an overnight deluge.
While there is no suggestion the forecast rain will cause a similar situation, NHS Fife said it was taking pre-emptive action by closing car parks A and B, near the site’s main entrance, until it was deemed safe to reopen them.
Due to the Amber warning for rain issued by the Met Office this weekend – as a precautionary measure – Car Parks A & B at the Victoria Hospital will be closed from 6PM tonight.
📲https://t.co/6LE0YR2HH8 pic.twitter.com/5ZgTCdWhKA
— NHS Fife (@nhsfife) October 2, 2020
A spokesperson said: “We apologise for the inconvenience and wish to reassure patients, visitors and staff that both car parks will be reopened as soon as possible once the weather warning has expired.”
Motorists have been warned to plan ahead, with the Met Office predicting reduced visibility and the potential for surface water on the trunk road network.
Other modes of transport, including trains, could also be affected.
Conditions will be monitored over the weekend and inspections carried out at flooding hotspots.
Tayside Police urged people to “take appropriate care” and allow added time for any necessary journeys.
We now have amber and yellow weather warnings for heavy rain in a very drookit Tayside over the weekend. Please take appropriate care and allow added time for any necessary journeys. Details at the Met Office website: https://t.co/NSinW8apWm
— Tayside Police (@TaysidePolice) October 2, 2020
Transport secretary Michael Matheson said: “The rain will likely lead to difficult driving conditions, so I’d urge travellers to plan their journey ahead, drive to the conditions and follow Police Scotland travel advice.”
Mark Becker, flood duty manager at environment watchdog Sepa, said a number of flood alerts had bee issued and warned people to be prepared.
“We expect parts of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus to be the worst affected and property flooding is possible in several areas,” he said.
“More details of areas affected will be included in flood warnings as they are issued in response to river levels.
“Whilst the worst impacts are expected in the north east, a much wider area covering much of the east of Scotland could also experience flooding impacts due to the heavy rain over the weekend.”
