By Mark Mackay

SEVERE FLOOD warnings for the River Earn were issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) yesterday as heavy rain struck much of Scotland.

By morning some 13 flood watches had been issued across the country, with Tayside and Fife particularly at risk.

Flood watches were assigned to the Dundee coastal area, Earn, Fife rivers and the lower and upper Tay, together with the Isla and Ericht.

By mid-afternoon, however, those on the River Earn had been upgraded to severe warnings, with SEPA urging those living, working or travelling in flood risk areas to be prepared for the possibility of flooding.

SEPA warned residents and business people in Crieff to protect themselves and their property. And though the severe warnings issued for the River Earn from Comrie to Crieff and downstream of Crieff to Bridge of Earn principally covered agricultural land, SEPA advised farmers with livestock in low-lying areas adjacent to the River Earn to take action.

The agency, however, also said there was no risk of flooding to Bridge of Earn from the River Earn at this time.

Despite yesterday’s heavy rain Tayside Fire and Rescue were not called upon to attend at any flood-related incidents within Perth and Kinross. And the weather caused only a few problems in Fife, police said.

As the atrocious weather swept across Scotland, badly affecting driving conditions, forecasters said parts of the country would see an estimated 50 mm rainfall—around two inches—by nightfall.

The rain began sweeping across Scotland’s southern areas at around 6 am yesterday. Around 25 mm had fallen in the Borders region by midday.

Motorists across the country were warned of large amounts of surface water causing problems on the roads.

Fife Fire and Rescue Service were called out to deal with sporadic flooding, mainly due to water running off fields. A section of Shawsmill Road to Loch-gelly Loch was closed, and Haugh Road in Burntisland was partially shut.

The heavy rain and winds caused patches of standing water on the roads in Angus, but police said motorists were coping.

In Arbroath, the high tide, driven by the strong easterly wind, made for something of a spectacle along the King’s Drive promenade yesterday evening.

The Tay Road Bridge was closed to double-deckers buses and had a reduced speed limit of 30 mph to all other vehicles.

A spokesperson for control said last night, “The highest wind we had was about 58 mph, which is just on the borderline for restricting high-sided vehicles, but the wind has really dropped now.”

The Scottish Crop Research Institute in Invergowrie reported an unusually high downfall.

At 9 am yesterday, 14.8 mm of rain had fallen in the previous 24 hours—making up 23% of the total for the month so far.

Forecasters said the rain would ease off overnight.

Julian Mayes from the PA WeatherCentre said that it would be dry in most places overnight and today would be much better.

He warned, however, that torrential rain is expected to resume tomorrow.