Warning of more floods
Four inches of rain a day expected for rest of week
FORECASTERS are warning people to brace themselves for fresh floods with heavy rain predicted to arrive in the wake of Storm Desmond.
The Met Office has issued alerts for much of western and southern Scotland with fresh downpours expected to cause hazardous conditions on the road today and more woe to areas affected by the weekend’s deluge.
Meteorologists say that a new storm could hit the west coast tomorrow, and expect around four inches of rain to fall on much of the country each day until the end of the week.
It comes after hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes due to flooding over the weekend, while many roads throughout Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders were rendered impassable.
At the peak of the problems about 300 homes were evacuated in Hawick as the River Teviot burst its banks while properties in Newcastleton, Langholm, Annandale and Eskdale were also affected.
Meanwhile, the west coast main line was shut in both directions after being submerged under 8ft of water at Carlisle. It is not expected to reopen until tomorrow at the earliest.
Network Rail has drafted in extra members of specialist staff ahead of the bad weather.
A spokesman said: “We had hundreds of engineers out over the weekend to deal with the weather, including additional specialist engineers such as drainage and structures engineers, overhead line specialists and chainsaw operators.
“We have our own meteorologists who provide us with detailed forecast for Scotland as a whole and for the railway specifically, so we can plan in advance for bad weather and also deploy resources to the areas likely to be worst affected.
“Engineers have been working around the clock to try to keep the railway open and passengers on the move and will continue to do so throughout the week ahead.”
One woman was charged with ignoring a road closed sign in Kelso resulting in her car becoming submerged in water.
Police Scotland said the vehicle was carried down a river before becoming wedged between trees and that the 49-year-old driver would be reported to the procurator fiscal. Insp John Reid said they wanted to remind all motorists that road closures were “in place for a reason”.
Flooding Minister Dr Aileen McLeod urged people to pay attention to news bulletins and weather forecasts in the coming days and to monitor guidance issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
She said: “We are working closely with Sepa and Transport Scotland to monitor and access the implications of the latest weather forecast updates so that we can continue to support the work of local authorities and the emergency services.”
Ministers also said that money will be made available to local authorities affected by flooding from the Bellwin Scheme, a fund set up to give financial assistance to councils who face an undue financial burden as a result of large-scale emergencies.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “We are committed to helping communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
“I have today agreed to activate the Bellwin scheme which provides support to local authorities to assist with immediate and unforeseen costs of dealing with the latest flood damage.”
Meanwhile David Cameron has pledged that the UK Government will do all it can to help the latest victims of flooding as Labour accused it of making more “false promises” on flood protection.