Heavy rain is forecast across the north and north-east today amidst amber and yellow weather warnings.
The current yellow warning – which covers most of the north-east – doesn’t come into force until 3pm but has already brought a wet start for most.
Heavy rain and strong winds plagued the north-east overnight and people in Inverness and the surrounding areas woke to thick mist.
Aberdeen City Council’s Christmas tree switch-on ceremony which was planned for this evening has been cancelled due to the weather.
The Met Office‘s yellow weather warning is in place for more than 28 hours so disruption and flooding is expected.
Rain is expected to be at its worst between midnight on Thursday and 3pm on Friday, with the warning being advanced to an amber level in some areas during this time.
Though both warnings are focused in the Grampian region, rain is also forecast across the Highlands throughout the day.
🌧️ It was a very wet night across parts of the UK
The heaviest #rain will be in northern and eastern areas today so if you need to travel, make sure you stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/bdkULCSp52
— Met Office (@metoffice) November 17, 2022
Check before making travel plans.
NorthLink has cancelled a number of its ferries running between Orkney, Shetland and the mainland.
The following Thursday services have changes to their usual schedule:
- Thursday 7pm Lerwick to Aberdeen – cancelled
- Thursday 5pm Aberdeen to Lerwick – cancelled
- Friday 5.30pm Kirkwall to Aberdeen – under review
- Friday 7pm Aberdeen to Lerwick – under review
- Friday 6.30am Stromness to Scrabster – potential delays
A notice on its website says all sailings until Friday are liable to cancellation and disruption.
Keep up to date with the latest NorthLink information here.
⚠️YELLOW #Uig #Lochmaddy 19Nov Due to adverse weather forecasted, the 14:00 departing Uig and the 16:10 departing Lochmaddy are liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice.
The 07:30 departing Lochmaddy is expected to operate as per timetable.
— CalMac Service Info (@CalMac_Updates) November 17, 2022
Due to severe flooding on the Forfar to Brechin road, the 21A will divert from Forfar to Brechin via the A90, as parts of the road are becoming impassable, sorry for any inconvenience caused.
— Stagecoach East Scotland (@StagecoachEScot) November 17, 2022
NEW❗ ⌚ 21:57 #A90 Laurencekirk
Restricted Northbound at Laurencekirk due to flooding⚠️
Please #TakeCare on the approach @NETrunkRoads pic.twitter.com/ssF4YZT1EF
— Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) November 17, 2022
Currently, no flights have been cancelled from Aberdeen Airport.
Network Rail has imposed a number of speed restrictions on its services throughout the day on Thursday and into Friday.
Trains going to Aberdeen from Edinburgh could be delayed as a restriction has been put in place between Laurencekirk and Portlethen from 6pmtonight to 12pm tomorrow.
Speed restrictions could be added or removed at any times, so check with ScotRail before travelling.
ScotRail announced that due to flooding between Laurencekirk and Stonehaven the east coast line has been closed pending investigation.
NEW: Due to flooding between Laurencekirk and Stonehaven the line has been closed pending investigation. https://t.co/2VuQiktOXm
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) November 17, 2022
The Caledonian Sleeper confirmed that the service will continue to run other the next few days but did note that disruption could occur at short notice.
Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth said: “The Met Office is warning us to expect a period of difficult weather in parts of eastern Scotland throughout Friday, with heavy rain likely to impact travel in the amber warning area in the North East.
“The conditions could potentially bring disruption to the transport network, so it’s important people plan their journeys before they set off – particularly if they’re looking to use the trunk roads or travel by rail.”
Flooding in Aberdeenshire
Due to forecast rising river levels on the Don in Inverurie, we are proposing to close the B993 Keithhall Rd at 9am on Friday morning. Please do not try and get past any road closed signs @abztravel pic.twitter.com/ebDqjlN7nv
— Aberdeenshire Roads (@AbshireRoads) November 17, 2022
Due to rising river levels on the River Don, Aberdeenshire Council have decided to close the B993 road on Friday morning.
Kintore Public Hall has opened its sandbag container for public use but are urging people to only take what they need.
The B977 Kintore to Fintray road has now closed due to flooding in the area.
In preparation for expected flooding in Aberdeen, the council has announced the closure of Riverside Drive flood gate.
We have closed the flood gate at Riverside Drive beside the River Dee in preparation for the heavy rain and flooding.
Keep up-to-date at https://t.co/BblfVXESev and https://t.co/lSbBnP9CqR
Please stay safe ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2O02981nWx— Aberdeen City Council (@AberdeenCC) November 17, 2022
Flood warnings across north
Sepa has issued flood alerts for Aberdeen city, Aberdeenshire and areas of the Moray coast and Speyside.
In Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, peak water levels are expected between 8pm on Thursday and 8pm on Friday – with travel disruption expected.
In total 17 flood warnings have been issued across Scotland including in Kemnay, Inverurie, Ballater and Kintore.
Flooding is expected in Findhorn, Nairn, Moray and Speyside with a flood warning for Spey Bay and Spey Viaduct as well as Craigellachie, Aberlour and Boat O’Brig.
A flood alert has also been issued for the Caithness and Sutherland regions.
David Faichney, Flood Duty Manager for Sepa, said: “A period of persistent and heavy rain is forecast across much of eastern Scotland from Thursday evening into Friday afternoon.
“On Aberdeenshire and Angus in particular could experience significant impacts. These may include flooding in parts of communities, property and agricultural land. Disruption to the transport network is also likely, including difficult driving conditions.”
In the town of Portlethen, over 1,200 residents were left without power for around two hours while SSEN engineers worked to resolve the situation.
A spokesman said: “We are sorry for the loss of supply affecting Port Lethen and the surrounding areas. We have a fault on our main network affecting 1244 customers.”
Power was restored to the majority of SSEN customers at around 9pm.
Orkney barriers
The Orkney barriers – which connect a number of smaller islands to the mainland – have been closed for most of the day.
They are currently open but drivers are advised to take care if using them and only to do so for essential reasons.
This will be reviewed throughout the day and more closures are likely.
The Churchill Barriers are currently open however it is advised that this is for essential travel only and passable with care. This will be reviewed again at 14.30 with the likleyhood of further closures. pic.twitter.com/FjhdWAO2yJ
— Orkney Police (@OrkneyPolice) November 17, 2022
We will update this article throughout the day with the latest disruption.
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