Shock and thaw! Now get set for the floods
SCOTLAND is today on flood alert, with persistent rain and melting snow threatening to cause rivers to burst their banks.
After last week’s Siberian cold snap shut schools, paralysed transport and cost the economy hundreds of millions of pounds, things appeared to be getting back on track as the thaw set in.
But now swathes of the country are being warned of the flood risk – with roads and railways facing disruption again and properties in danger of serious damage.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued seven flood alerts for today, urging communities to ‘protect their homes’.
And the snow, it seems, has not quite gone yet. The Met Office yesterday warned parts of Scotland to prepare for up to 6in (15cm) of the white stuff.
As the so-called Beast from the East struck last week, a total of 14 people lost their lives across Britain.
Thousands of drivers were stranded overnight on stormbound motorways, communities were cut off for days by deep snow drifts and panic-buying saw supermarket shelves stripped.
All schools in the Central Belt reopened yesterday, but West Dunbartonshire Council informed parents that not all school transport would operate.
Floods, however, will now be the biggest problem many Scots face. Yesterday, SEPA duty flood manager Marc Becker said: ‘A combination of some persistent rainfall with snow melt means there is a risk of minor localised flooding in eastern parts of Scotland from today through to Wednesday, with a focus on low-lying land and roads.’
Forecasters say that more snow is likely to fall today in Tayside, Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Islands, South-West Scotland, Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde.
Higher ground is expected to see the biggest accumulations. Sections of the A9 trunk road could get more than 4in (10cm) of snow, and other Highland routes can expect falls of up to 6in (15cm).
SEPA’s flood alerts are open ended and cover Aberdeenshire,
‘Deep area of low pressure’
Fife, Dundee and Angus, Edinburgh and the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Dumfriesshire and the Borders.
Tracey Logan, chief executive of Scottish Borders Council, said the authority was prepared for the latest weather problems.
She added: ‘While we continue to deal with snow clearance, we are now preparing for the potential for flooding, ensuring sandbag stores are stocked, for example.
‘There is a degree of uncertainty about the volume of rain we may see during Tuesday morning and early afternoon, and combined with the risk of large quantities of melting snow at lower levels, there is a real risk of surface water flooding.’
Martin Bowles of the Met Office said: ‘Rain will be the big issue in Scotland on Tuesday. There will also be significant fresh accumulations of snow but these will be confined to higher levels.
‘We are gradually seeing things becoming a bit milder but we are watching out for a deep area of low pressure arriving from the south-west.
‘This could bring more snow on Saturday as it hits the cold air. It won’t be as much as we had last week but it will still be a problem.
‘Once that has passed, there is the chance that things will turn more spring-like next week.’