IT’S DROUGHT OF ORDER
Water shortage early warning issued on same day as flooding alerts
Scotland’S first water shortage warning of the year has been issued – just as the public were told to brace themselves for thunderstorms.
Despite the fourth wettest April in history, an “early warning” for water scarcity has been declared in the north-west Highlands and Inner Hebrides.
Soil moisture is low in the affected areas, where the Scottish Environment Protection Agency insists rainfall has been lower than normal.
The SEPA warning stated: “SEPA is monitoring the situation and coordinating steps to manage water resources in line with Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan.”
The alert comes as the same government agency had 15 flood alerts in place for swathes of the country last night.
The Met Office also extended a yellow warning for thunderstorms, creeping up Britain towards Scotland yesterday afternoon and evening.
Intense downpours were forecast for some areas,
predicting more than an inch of rain in less than an hour. In a few unlucky spots, the total could top two inches in less than three hours.
Lasting until 3am this morning, this was expected to lead to flooding of homes and businesses as well as difficult driving conditions on the roads.
The Met Office believes in some parts, communities could be cut off by floodwater and power cuts could occur.
The warning added: “There
is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.”
The warning affected the western half of the country but was later extended to Edinburgh, Tayside and Fife.
Saturday was Scotland’s hottest day of the year, when parks and promenades were packed with day-trippers.
The highest UV levels of the year were predicted, with warnings of “moderate to high” danger from sunburn declared.
The mercury touched 25.7C at Cassley in Sutherland, followed by 25.6C at Kinlochewe in Wester Ross.
Yesterday, the continued warm weather brought crowds to Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth and some wildlife fans were lucky enough to see a dolphin snare its lunch.
Mark MacDonald from Glasgow said: “That was incredible. We were thrilled to see the dolphins but never thought we would actually see one catch a salmon.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of people who missed out on seeing the Northern Lights on Friday caused traffic chaos on Saturday night.
Darren Brown, 52, managed to get the last parking space at Duck Bay car park on Loch Lomondside before “bedlam” descended”.
He drove to the area in his camper van from his home in Clydebank hoping to witness the aurora borealis for the second night in a row after the natural light show lit up the skies on Friday.
But he ended up watching Match of the Day instead.
Darren said: “I arrived at 10pm and the queue of traffic was unbelievable.
“I managed to get the very last space in the car park and the vehicles behind me just stopped at the side of the road, causing gridlock.”
there is a chance of deep, fast flowing floodwater met office warning over thunderstorms