Travel chaos as thunderstorms and rain spark f lash f looding
‘Road totally closed by a landslip’
FLASH flooding caused travel chaos across parts of Scotland yesterday, with more thunderstorms set to roll in today. Torrential rain saw the A77 shut southbound at Bellfield, Ayrshire, with drivers asked to take an alternative route.
Photos shared on social media showed the trunk road under several inches of water.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was also called out to floods in Ayr and Dundonald, Stewarton and Prestwick in Ayrshire. It came only three days after firefighters had been called out to deal with floods on Sunday.
The downpours also caused a landslip on the A815 north of Strachur, Argyll, forcing police to close the road. This resulted in some motorists having to take a three-hour diversion.
Nationalist MSP Mike Russell shared his own experience of trying to drive the route.
He tweeted: ‘Chaos on #A815 after flash flood. Further in, after passing through much more flooding and driving over tons of gravel washed down drives and tracks, the road was totally closed by a landslip necessitating an 80-mile, 3-hour diversion...via #erskinebridge & #westernferries.’
Sixteen flood warnings were in place across Scotland yesterday, with major roads closed and trains, buses and cars brought to a halt.
Meanwhile, ScotRail confirmed flooding on the railway between Barrhead, Renfrewshire, and Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, had closed the line.
Bus services were also cancelled and ScotRail had to cancel some trains from Glasgow Central.
In Ayrshire, customers banded together to help mop up after a pub was hit by torrential rain.
John Cairns, manager of the Weston Tavern in Kilmaurs told the Scottish Sun: ‘It was so sudden. The place flooded in about ten minutes. The water was up to our knees. Golf ball-sized hailstones were coming in through the windows and landing in the fryer.
‘It was like we were in California or Florida, it was that heavy.’
Tourism organisation Discover Ayrshire posted images on social media of streets submerged in water. And the source of the misery was captured by Dynamic Scotland Photography, which snapped an image of a ‘super cell’ cloud looming over Ayrshire, shown as part of the BBC’s weather report.
Forecasters have predicted more thunderstorms today across southern and central Scotland and the Highlands. These are expected to develop in the afternoon with showers set to last into the evening.
The best of the weather will be in Aberdeenshire. Fewer showers are expected tomorrow and Saturday as an area of high pressure moves in, although the rain will return for much of Scotland on Sunday.