The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Kingdom’s roads affected by floods
Storm Doris swept through Fife bringing heavy snow and rain in her wake.
Across some areas – Cowdenbeath, Benarty, Lochgelly and Kelty – two to three inches of snow fell in an hour, bringing many roads to a standstill.
In Glenrothes commuters faced long delays as they struggled with extremely slippery conditions.
Meanwhile heavy rain caused flooding in many other areas.
The A921 Burntisland to Aberdour road was closed at Starley Hall due to flooding.
The fire service was called out to rescue two people after their car got stuck in two and a half feet of water.
They also went to the aid of a van driver who similarly had tried to push on through.
Also closed because of flooding were the Balchristie to Balhousie road and Dunfermline’s Lapwing Drive.
In Lochgelly, community spirit came to the fore when a bus, believed to be operated by Prentice Westwater, skidded on the steep Station Road and became stuck.
Jim Dewar and Graham Bowmaker from Rennies in Cowdenbeath arrived to grit the road and assist stranded motorists while workers from the nearby Purvis Group arrived with a digger.
Stagecoach East Scotland said the weather was causing delays, diversions and cancellations across Fife.
With safety a priority, the firm pledged to do all it could to maintain the network as much as possible.
Fife Council’s maintenance boss Bill Liddle agreed west Fife experienced the most significant problems, particularly roads on the high ground around Knockhill, Kelty, and Ballingry.
“As daylight came in we started to experience problems in the Glenrothes area where the rain turned to snow for a period of time before returning back to sleet and rain later in the morning.
“Fortunately the north area of Fife escaped most of the snow and experienced little problems on its road network.”
In all 14 gritters and 20 footpath tractors were out clearing roads and paths while resources were deployed to tackle flooding.