Flood warnings as heavy rainfall batters the west

● Met Office issues yellow weather alerts

Western Scotland is set to be hit by flooding after yellow weather warnings were issued.

The Met office issued alerts that “flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely” as persistent and heavy rainfall that started last night continues to drench large parts of the west coast.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has said Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Skye and Lochaber as well as west central Scotland are all at risk.

Met Office yellow weather warnings for rain issued yesterday remain in place through today and late into tomorrow night.

It comes after reports that the aftermath of Atlantic Storm Leslie will batter the country with 85mph winds.

Police issued traffic restrictions on the Tay Road Bridge yesterday and a 30mph speed restriction was in place due to strong winds.

The Met Office said: “Persistent and at times heavy rain will remain over parts of western Scotland throughout Monday and Tuesday.

“The west Highlands may see some breaks in the rainfall on Monday morning in particular before the rain spreads back into this area.

“Through Monday and into Tuesday widely 40-60mm of rain is expected, with totals of 100-150mm over some upland sites exposed to the strong south-westerly winds.

“This will be accompanied by strong winds, with local gales possible around exposed coasts and high ground.”

Bus and train services will be affected and roads will be flooded meaning journey times will take longer.

Sepa said affected regions are likely to experience flooding on low land and roads.

But the heavy showers will clear as the week progresses and Wednesday is predicted to be the hottest day in October since 2011.

Across the UK, the south will stay “comfortably warm” but those in the north are set for strong winds up to 50mph as tropical maritime air blows in.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: “A nice spell of weather is starting, with warm tropical maritime air coming from the Canary Islands and the Azores.”

“25C can’t be ruled out, which is 10C above 14-15C average highs. Wednesday and Thursday look like the peak, but it stays on the warm side for the weekend and next week.”

Forecasters have predicted a warmer-than-normal three months to December.