NOW FOR THE DEEP FREEZE
After flooding, brace yourself: temperatures ‘will fall to -12c’
TEMPERATURES are set to plunge as low as -12c as devastated communities continue to struggle with the aftermath of Storm Frank.
Forecasters warned that some of the worst-hit parts of the country could see snow and ice in the coming days – as well as yet more heavy rain bringing the threat of further flooding.
An amber ‘be prepared’ weather alert was last night issued by the Met Office, covering Grampian, Central, Tayside and Fife.
Prolonged downpours are expected to hit swathes of eastern Scotland as a band of rain moves in from the West.
A yellow ‘be aware warning’ is also in place for Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian and Borders.
The Met Office said: ‘Given the earlier exceptionally wet weather, with high river levels and saturated ground, be prepared for further surface water and river flooding, as well as disruption to transport.’
The Scottish Government resilience committee met again yesterday and said it will continue to monitor the situation. Environment Minister Aileen McLeod has urged people to check local forecasts.
Communities struggling to clear up after the floods will also face sub-zero temperatures in coming days. Royal Deeside, one of the areas worst hit by Storm Frank, could see the mercury plunge to -12c.
‘It’s going to feel very much colder than it has been,’ said Jim Dale of British Weather Services.
‘There will be a change of emphasis and we are going to be talking about ice and frost and snow and fog.
‘Minus values at night and in the morning will be prevalent. It’s time to get the salt and the deicer out. The next fortnight will be much colder. There will be some snow and certainly frost.
‘We have had the very mild and the very wet – now there will be the other side of the coin.
‘In the mornings there will be minimum temperatures, anything from 0c to -5c. In the extreme parts of Scotland, Braemar and places like that, I think in time -10c or -12c.
‘We’re not out of the woods. It’s now time for a bit of cold, if you get cold you tend to get less volume of rainfall,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t take a great shift to move from a cold position with some snow and frost, to get back to the wet.
‘We live in interesting times and we can go from one extreme to another. We will now see how this unfolds.’
It will do little to ease the anguish in areas of Scotland hit by recent deluges. In Ballater, Royal Deeside, where almost 500 properties were affected by flooding last week, the clean up was under way yesterday.
John Sinclair, director of local butcher shop HM Sheridan, said a lot of people had been moved into lodges and other summer rental properties. They are not insulated at all so a lot of people will feel the cold.
‘People are a wee bit concerned about it. That’s going to the next test.’ He continued: ‘Our shop
‘Get out the salt
and de-icer’
has been stripped to the bare walls. We’re going to be closed for at least two months.
‘I think once all the rubbish is cleared from the side of the street people will feel better. It’s depressing seeing it. It’s now about starting the re-building. It was a close community before but it is probably even closer now.’
Work is also under way to improve transport in the Braemar area after a section of the A93 was washed away by Storm Frank.
Aberdeenshire Council has been working with the owners of nearby fields to put a temporary diversion in place within the next ten days. A free shuttle bus service has also been set-up between Braemar and Invercauld.
Meanwhile, in Perth, where residents were rescued from floods by boat on Tuesday, locals have been taking stock of the damage.
Dr Tanya Ewing, whose company Glaze & Save was affected, said: ‘We’re a very young, small start-up company so we can’t afford to be not working at all.’
PricewaterhouseCoopers has estimated the damages bill for Storm Frank in Scotland could hit £800million. .
Yesterday the Scottish Environment Protection Service said it is still not sure how many properties have been hit.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles, whose garden at Birkhall, Aberdeenshire, was destroyed by flood water, is taking a keen interest in the situation across Scotland.
A spokesman at Clarence House, Prince’s official residence in London, said: ‘His Royal Highness is being kept personally updated about flooding across the whole of the country and is looking at ways in which he can help both now and in the future.’
One of Charles’s charitable foundations has renewed an appeal for donations to assist victims.
Last month, The Prince’s Countryside Fund donated £40,000 to rural businesses and communities badly hit by Storm Desmond. It is now urging people to help create a flood relief fund in the wake of Storm Frank.
Yesterday police put an appeal to help locate missing camper Terence Kilbride, 48, who is feared to have been caught up in last week’s floods in Aberdeenshire.
Originally from Warrington, Lancashire, Mr Kilbride is described as 6ft tall with short, dark, greying hair and blue eyes.
Police were last night investigating a number of reported sightings of Mr Kilbride.