Heavy rain and melting snow puts swathes of Scotland on flood alert

Flood alerts were in place across Scotland yesterday as heavy rain and melting snow brought disruption to swathes of the country.

The warnings spanned the country, from the north east, through Tayside and central parts, to Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders.

There were 10 flood alerts and around 30 less serious flood warnings in place across Scotland yesterday. A warm spell helped exacerbate the problems, accelerating snow melt in many areas.

The Met Office also announced separate warnings for heavy rainfall in a large area just north of the central belt, as well as another covering large parts of southern Scotland.

And, in a complete change from lows of –23C in Aberdeenshire only 10 days ago, temperatures in Edinburgh are expected to reach 13C (55F) today.

The conditions forced the closure of both the A83 at The Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll, as well as its diversionary route, the Old Military Road, at the end of last week. The diversion was reopened following a safety assessment yesterday. Janine Hensman, SEPA’s Duty Flooding Manager said: “River and surface water flooding is expected across southern, central and north eastern Scotland. This is due to another band of heavy rain and ongoing snow melt. Travel disruption is possible and rivers will be high and fast-flowing. Rain is expected to return on Tuesday with flooding impacts possible.”

The downpours could bring so-called blood rain today or tomorrow, when sand whipped up from the Sahara is deposited here.

Blood rain is caused when desert sand is lifted into the atmosphere and transported north by the wind. The Met Office said the sand comes to ground when we get showers. Raindrops collect the red particles and, after they land, the water evaporates leaving a layer of dust.

The Met said the sand was most likely to hit England, though Scotland’s sunrises and sunsets may look more dramatic than usual.

Although the increased temperatures are set to continue, they’ll like be accompanied by high winds which are expected to resume by Tuesday and Wednesday.