Heavy rain and flooding have led to major travel disruption across the country, with hundreds of train services cancelled.
The Met Office issued multiple weather warnings covering most of Scotland, with an amber warning affecting most of the West Coast, including Fort William, Oban and Aviemore.
A concurrent amber warning for rain is in place for most of the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire, both warnings will remain in place until 2pm on Sunday.
The weather operator is warning of “prolonged heavy rain and flooding”, which has resulted in widespread travel disruption.
Images show the impact with large areas of Oban flooded and roads across Argyll and the western Highlands severely impacted.
Areas in Argyll and Bute have been severely impacted by flooding and landslides including the A82, A83 and A85.
According to Traffic Scotland, police are advising drivers to avoid driving in the north-west of Scotland due to poor road conditions.
To keep updated with road conditions, visit Traffic Scotland.
ScotRail services have been affected by the weather, with more than 500 weekend services cancelled.
These include routes like the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Far North Line, and Inverness to Aberdeen Line.
It was announced that in anticipation of the bad weather, ScotRail would be suspending services from Oban, Mallaig and Fort William and between Perth and Inverness.
The train operator and the Met Office are expecting “a month’s rain is expected to fall in just 24 hours”.
David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, said: “The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for heavy rain for parts of Scotland, which could see over a month’s worth expected to fall on areas of the Highlands and central Scotland, as well as Glasgow, Perth, and Stirling.
“We know the impact that the withdrawal of some train services will have on customers but it’s a necessary step to ensure the safety of our staff and customers due to the severe rainfall.
“As a precautionary measure in order to keep our customers and staff safe, speed restrictions will also be in place across most routes in Scotland, which will result in extended journey times.”
In addition, LNER confirmed that no services would run north of Newcastle due to adverse weather, including routes to Aberdeen and Inverness.
Flooding across the West Coast
In addition to trains, some roads are also affected including the A85 Rest and Be Thankful which has been closed to traffic with drivers diverted onto Old Military road.
The A85 is notorious for landslides and so was closed due to flooding early on Saturday morning.
The A82 at Glencoe is also currently restricted in both directions due to flooding.
Other travel such as airports and ferries have experienced little to no disruption so far.
However, some weekend events like the Highland League Cup semi final between Brora Rangers and Keith was postponed.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has also issued flood warnings for most of Speyside, with towns around the River Spey at risk of floods.
Fast flowing or deep floodwater will present a danger to life, according to forecasters.
Also included are towns like Grantown-on-Spey, Aviemore and Kingussie, with 11 flood warnings in total for the region.
Shops forced to close in Oban
Several shops and businesses have been forced to close in Oban due to the weather. Tesco and Made in Argyll are both shut until further notice.
Seil Island Hall Community Cinema has also announced that tonight’s showing has been cancelled due to “treacherous roads.”
Areas affected across the north and north-east:
- Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City
- Argyll and Bute
- Ballater
- Caithness and Sutherland
- Easter Ross and Great Glen
- Findhorn Nairn Moray and Speyside
- Skye and Lochaber
- Wester Ross
To keep updated with how train services have been affected, visit the ScotRail website.
Conversation