Tide of destruction
Bridges and roads swept away after downpours
Scotland suffered serious flooding over the weekend as torrential rain swept away bridges and roads.
cars were stranded after drivers removed ‘road closed’ signs in areas hit by flash flooding.
aberdeenshire was worst affected by the downpours, which swamped coastal properties.
on Saturday, dramatic images of floodwater tearing through the coastal village of crovie showed a 4x4 vehicle being engulfed by the torrent, which also smashed boats and breached a number of homes.
Yesterday, safety inspections were still being carried out on bridges across the north East to assess the extent of the damage.
council workers were forced to place concrete blocks across flooded carriageways after motorists pushed warning signs and barriers out of the way.
aberdeenshire council took to social media to condemn the reck29.8mm less behaviour after two cars became stuck on Saturday at Palmer cove on the a98 at Macduff when barriers were removed.
It said: ‘Road is IMPaSSaBlE and the two cars that ignored the closure signs and moved the barriers last night are now trapped in the floodwater. Please do not ignore Road closed signs!’
other areas affected included Fraserburgh, turriff and Banff, with several smaller bridges washed away. Most of the roads hit by the adverse weather have since reopened.
aberdeenshire council chief executive Jim Savege tweeted that his thoughts were with all the communities who had been affected and thanked the responders for their work.
the Met office said the heaviest rainfall was recorded at Fyvie castle in aberdeenshire, with (1.1in) in the 48 hours to yesterday afternoon.
Forecaster Sarah Kent said: ‘these cloudbursts at the weekend were very intense. Much heavier rainfall could have occurred in spots where we do not have recording stations.’
the Met office had a yellow warning for severe weather in place on Saturday morning, for aberdeenshire and Moray in general and the port of Fraserburgh in particular.
Samantha Rogers, who posted pictures of the flood chaos in crovie, said: ‘It was really wild sea weather. about a hundred yards down the path, a river comes in and it had burst its banks.
‘a car had been shifted halfway down the bank and got stuck. there’s a little walkway you walk down to the car park but you couldn’t get anywhere near it. a boat had been washed down. It was just mad.’
Meanwhile, the Met office is ‘keeping a very close eye’ on the path of Hurricane lorenzo, currently blowing at 155mph in the South atlantic. Unusually, it is heading towards the north atlantic rather than the caribbean.
alex Burkill of the Met office said: ‘this is the strongest hurricane on record to be this far east in the atlantic.
‘there is a lot of uncertainty about which direction it is going to take. But the national Hurricane center in Florida believes it will reach the South of Ireland by Friday, which means it will also cross the UK.’
Before that, conditions will turn much cooler in Scotland, with freezing temperatures at night.
‘Cloudbursts very intense’