Heavy rain causes travel disruption

Oct 12 2012

A number of people have been rescued from stranded cars as rain caused disruption in parts of Scotland.

The east of the country has been worst affected, with a number of incidents in Fife.

A woman and her dog had to be rescued from a car after it was stuck in around 3ft of water in Colinsburgh late on Thursday night, while another driver needed help from the fire service after a similar incident in Elie.

A spokeswoman for Fife Fire and Rescue said they were dealing with many calls and the council was assisting with clearing water from roads in the area.

She said: "It has been raining for a day now so problems are building up on the roads. A couple of drivers have not realised how deep some puddles are and tried to drive through them and ended up stuck. East Neuk and the Cupar area are worst affected at the moment and we have appliances out clearing roads in those areas."

The A92 in Dundee has been closed due to flooding, while traffic was said to be slow on roads in Strathclyde and the Lothians because of surface water.

Central, Tayside and Grampian areas have been issued with amber "be prepared" warnings from the Met Office, while the rest of the country has a yellow "be aware" warning.

Forecasters said there could be almost a month's average rainfall in some areas over a 24 to 48-hour period, with about 80mm possible locally.

Transport minister Keith Brown said: "Just weeks after the first major storm of the autumn, the transport network is braced for another major challenge. Our operating companies are closely monitoring the situation and are ready to deal with any weather-related issues that arise. A wide range of agencies and organisations are poised to react quickly to the alerts and activate their response plans for the potential impact of heavy rain.

"The travelling public also have a key role to play. The Traffic Scotland website, variable message signs and traffic internet radio are being used to provide up-to-date information, allowing them to plan and amend their journeys accordingly."