Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hundreds of Brechin homes being evacuated amid life-threatening Storm Babet flooding

People living in the Angus town, which is also within the red weather warning, are preparing to leave their homes for several days.

Brechin during Storm Babet. Image: Ben MacDonald/DC Thomson
Brechin during Storm Babet. Image: Ben MacDonald/DC Thomson

Brechin residents are being evacuated as the town prepares for Storm Babet.

Angus Council has identified around 335 homes which have been asked to evacuate for their own safety.

Emergency shelters are being set up at Brechin Community Campus, Forfar Community Campus and Montrose Sports Centre from 3pm.

Those impacted are being asked to take sleeping bags, medication and other supplies.

A spokesman for Angus Council said: “Over the past few days, resilience colleagues have been working with Sepa to identify areas at most risk of flooding, due to the unprecedented level of rain that is expected to fall across Angus.

“As a result, we have identified approximately 335 homes in Brechin, and an additional 87 homes in Tannadice and Finavon where residents will be asked to evacuate for their own safety.”

Rest centres

“In preparation of such a situation, rest centres have been set up at Brechin Community Campus, Montrose Sports Centre and Forfar Community Campus which will open at 3pm to support those affected and we are working closely with colleagues from Angus Health and Social Care Partnership to identify vulnerable residents who will require additional support.”

A rare red weather warning is in place across parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus and Tayside.

Sepa flood unit manager Pascal Lardet told the BBC: “We will try to anticipate as much as we can.

“There’s a specific focus in the Brechin area which has flooded in the past.”

Flood defences

Brechin’s £16.3m flood defence scheme officially opened in 2016.

It was built to protect parts of the town from the River South Esk during periods of severe flooding.

Residents in the River Street area endured decades of flood misery when the river burst its banks.

And a year into the construction project, locals had to be evacuated from their homes when Storm Frank struck in 2015.

The Brechin scheme was one of the biggest civil engineering projects of its kind in Angus at the time.

It includes a flood wall along River Street and three submerged pumping stations along the stretch.