Aberdeen, the north-east and the north have been told to brace for heavy rain and thunder throughout the day amid amber weather warnings.
Persistent downpours are expected to bring travel disruption and localised floods to roads and communities.
A Met Office amber weather warning is in force from 6am on Wednesday until 6am on Thursday amid concerns about an impact on homes and businesses and hazardous travelling conditions.
Today forecasters have extended the area affected to include all of Aberdeenshire as well as Aberdeen, Moray, Inverness and Easter Ross.
When will the weather hit?
Heavy rain began sweeping across south Aberdeenshire from about 6am with the worst of the rainfall expected to fall inland.
The rain has already caused disruption with several roads in Aberdeen submerged in the early morning.
Forecasts expect that the band of heavy and persistent rain will slowly move north and reach the Moray Firth coast by about 10am or 11am.
⚠️⚠️ AMBER weather warning updated ⚠️⚠️
Rain warning for parts of Scotland
UPDATE : Area extended eastwards across Aberdeenshire
Wednesday 0600 – Thursday 0600Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/SYwKO8WLHr
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 28, 2021
Meanwhile, heavy rain is expected across the Inverness and Easter Ross area of the Highlands at about 8am.
More localised showers will continue through the afternoon but heavy and persistent rainfall will return in the evening from about 7pm.
Communities including Lossiemouth, Buckie, Banff and Fraserburgh are expected to experience the worst of the evening rain.
Heavy downpours are also forecast into the late evening in the Inverness area with Aberdeenshire, Moray and Aberdeen also likely to experience some showers and possibly some thunder through the night until the amber warning expires at 6am on Thursday.
What disruption will there be?
Sepa flood warnings have been issued warning that farm land and low lying properties in the Newtonmore and Kingussie area are at risk.
Water levels on the River Spey are expected to rise from overnight rain and continue to rise during the day from the rain.
Meanwhile, amber flood alerts are in force for the entire north and north-east with residents warned flooding could happen “very fast” from heavy downpours.
*** Flooding update ***
With the expected flooding, we have made a limited number of sandbags available for householders affected by flooding or in immediate danger to flooding only. They're available from ACC roads depots in Tullos (Craigshaw Dr) & Bucksburn (Bankhead Avenue). pic.twitter.com/ZTOU8id9sf— Aberdeen City Council (@AberdeenCC) July 28, 2021
Aberdeen City Council has warned that slow moving heavy thunderstorms are expected to affect the area during the morning between 7am and 10am.
The authority has made sandbags available from its Tullos and Bucksburn depots for those in immediate danger of flooding.
Officials have warned there could be “significant” disruption from surface water flooding with Sepa highlighting Stonehaven as another at-risk area.
ScotRail has imposed reduced speed limits on lines across the north while warning of the possibility of increased journey times and cancellations.
We have alternative road transport in place to supplement alterations and cancellations to services. Please use the help point or speak to a member of staff for any further information. ^Chris
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) July 28, 2021
Routes affected include the Aberdeen to Inverness line, Perth to Inverness line, Kyle of Lochalsh line and Wick line.
Speed limits are expected to be in place across Wednesday and Thursday with alternative road transport in place to support timetable alterations.
Stagecoach buses and other operators are also likely to be affected with localised diversions due to flooding.