Council reveals Perth floodgates strategy ahead of Hogmanay downpour

Sepa and the Met Office have warned of severe weather and possible flooding.

By Neil Henderson

December 30 2024, 6:16pm

Perth and Kinross Council to close floodgates on the River Tay: Image: Stuart Cowper

Perth and Kinross Council has revealed it has closed several floodgates in response to weather warnings.

Residents across Tayside have been warned by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) there could be a deluge similar to the one that hit the Fair City in October 2023 and forced locals to flee their properties.

The heavy rain warnings end at 11.59pm on Hogmanay (Tuesday).

After several requests for comment from The Courier, Perth and Kinross Council revealed its floodgates strategy on Monday night on social media.

Council precautions

The authority posted: “The flood gate at Shore Road, Perth, will be closed at 6pm this evening as a precaution.

“The gate will be staffed overnight to provide emergency access to vehicles.

“The Tay Street Promontory flood barrier will be put in place tomorrow (December 31), as a precaution.

“Most other flood gates in Perth have already been closed today (Monday 30 December) based on the latest information received from Sepa, in line with the Perth Flood Scheme Operational Procedure.

“Sepa has issued five flood warnings for Perth and Kinross.

“All of these warnings say flooding is likely on low-lying agricultural ground.”

Sepa has issued five flood warnings for Perth and Kinross:

Upper Tay
Innerpeffray to Bridge of Earn
Pitlochry to Ballinluig
Logierait to Jubilee Bridge
Glen Lyon

The Met Office warning says rainfall totals of 50mm to 70mm are possible and significant disruption is likely.

Some places may see 100mm to 140mm of rain.

Earlier this month Perth and Kinross Council admitted it was wrong to leave the North Inch floodgates open during torrential rain last October.

Flooding in the North Inch area of Perth in 2023. Image: Supplied

Flooding at the North Inch in Perth. — The floodgates at the North Inch were not closed in time to prevent flooding. Image: Supplied

The blunder was acknowledged several times in a long-awaited report on the floodgates fiasco.

Residents were forced to flee their homes, and properties beside the North Inch suffered millions of pounds worth of damage as the River Tay burst its banks.

An amber weather warning had been issued for the weekend of October 6-8 2023.

But the council later admitted there were too few trained staff on duty to close all of the gates in Perth’s £25 million flood defences.