Disruption continues after heavy rain in Scotland

Travel is still affected after Friday’s bad weather saw a person swept into the River Don near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire.

Rail services in part of Scotland are ‘unlikely’ to operate before noon on Saturday after ‘extreme’ rain on Friday, ScotRail said (PA)

Travel is still disrupted after a day of heavy rain across parts of Scotland – when a person was swept into water.

Emergency services were called to the River Don in Inverurie in Aberdeenshire on Friday afternoon after a report of someone in difficulty.

It came after heavy rain battered much of the east of Scotland, with several severe flood warnings issued.

Rail services in some of worst affected places were unable to run, with operator ScotRail saying the “extreme rainfall” means it is “unlikely” trains in some areas will restart before 12pm on Saturday.

After “yesterday’s extreme rainfall, services on the Fife Circle & between Aberdeen & Dundee are unlikely to start before noon today”, it tweeted.

Staff from Network Rail need to assess conditions on the rails in daylight, it added.

Torrential rain hit much of the north east of Scotland, with roads and rail travel impacted, schools closed and centres set up for those unable to stay in their homes.

Power cuts also affected areas including Inverurie, Kintore, Stonehaven, Portlethen and Hatton of Fintray, as the Met Office said over a month’s rain had fallen in Charr in Aberdeenshire, with the total recorded as 140 millimetres.

There was localised flooding in some parts of Edinburgh, with pictures showing the Crewe Toll roundabout in the west of the city submerged.

On Friday evening, justice secretary and lead minister for resilience, Keith Brown, chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience committee.

He said: “The Scottish Government’s resilience arrangements have been activated to ensure preparations and appropriate measures are in place, and we will continue to monitor the situation over the course of the weekend.

“We are in close contact with resilience partners, local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed.”