Saturday, November 20, 2010

Flooding Scotland.. ( bbc)

Flooding follows wettest November day on record


A baby boy was among those rescued from the floods by firefighters

The wettest November day on record has caused flooding problems across the south west of Scotland.

The Met Office said rainfall at its Eskdalemuir observatory in the 24-hour period to 0900 GMT had exceeded the previous highest total, set in 1931.

Dozens of businesses on the Whitesands in Dumfries were affected as the tide peaked again at about 1430 GMT.

However, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said the situation was "generally improving".

The Eskdalemuir figures showed there had been 76.4mm (more than 3in) of rain in 24 hours from Thursday into Friday.

It saw about 30 roads closed across Dumfries and Galloway, with flood watches and warnings in place on many rivers.


The Whitesands area has flooded with further problems expected at high tide
Dumfries and Galloway Council was put on flood alert and said it would remain so throughout the weekend with more rain forecast.

The region's fire and rescue service was also called out to several incidents overnight, particularly in Dumfries, Dalbeattie and Moffat.

A number of schools across the south of Scotland were closed and Dumfries and Galloway College was shut due to the heavy rainfall.

Many other parts had also been affected by flooding, including the Cairn Valley north of Dumfries.

Local resident Lesley Gibb told the BBC: "We are currently cut off - all roads in and out are blocked by chest-high water and floating cars.

"My husband had to get a tractor ride across the fields to get home this morning after being stranded at work all night."

A rescue operation was also carried out at a farm near Lockerbie after about 150 sheep became stranded in flooded fields.

Severe flood warnings had been put in place on a number of rivers in the Scottish Borders.

However, water levels had receded by Friday morning.




In Pictures: Flooding in Dumfries
The West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow was closed for a few hours because of a landslip between Carlisle and Penrith.

There was also flooding on the line at Lockerbie. It has since re-opened.

Richard Brown, head of hydrology at Sepa, said: "The situation at present is generally an improving picture.

"We've had an extremely busy night, recording some extreme peaks in many of the rivers across the south and south west of Scotland."

In Central Scotland, train operator ScotRail cut services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh.

There was also no services between Glasgow and Dunblane, and others services were disrupted.