Met Office: Red Alert issued for exceptional rainfall in parts of Aberdeenshire
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The Met Office has issued a rare Red Alert status for parts of Aberdeenshire and Angus for Thursday evening from 6pm.
A spokesperson said: "There is now high confidence in exceptional rainfall falling across southeast Grampian, particularly the uplands of Angus and south Aberdeenshire.
"100-150 mm of rain is expected to fall widely within 24 hours with some locations likely to see 200-250 mm of rain which is expected to cause considerable impacts both where it falls and lower lying areas further east.
Exceptional rainfall expected to cause severe flooding and disruption including -
Danger to life from fast flowing or deep floodwater.
Extensive flooding to homes and businesses.
Road closures and bus and train service delays and cancellations.
Dangerous driving conditions because of spray and flooded roads.
Loss of power and other essential services, such as gas, water and mobile phone service.
Communities completely cut off, perhaps for several days.
At the same time an Amber warning of high winds is also in place across wider Aberdeenshire.
A period of very strong easterly winds, perhaps gusting in excess of 70 mph at times, will affect the coasts of Angus and Aberdeenshire for a time on Thursday.
The combination of the very strong winds with prolonged heavy rainfall and the fact this is an unusual wind direction for winds of this strength will likely exacerbate the impacts.
Large waves will be an additional hazard at the coast.
