Scotland weather: Heavy rain expected this weekend as Met Office issues yellow weather alerts

A yellow warning for heavy rain will come into force at lunchtime on Saturday and run till 6pm on Sunday in south west Scotland.

The areas covered are Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire.

The Met Office said rainfall of 30 mm or more are likely across the warning areas and between 60mm and 80 mm of rain across areas of high ground. Forecasters said strong south-westerly winds are also possible.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Rebekah Hicks said: “While there is still some uncertainty around the timing of individual pulses of heavy rain, the combination of prolonged rainfall and already saturated ground means there is a chance of further disruption to travel and localised flooding. We expect further unsettled conditions to continue into next week and are closely monitoring developments.”

Travel disruption is likely, with possible delays to train services and flooding on roads.

Storm Bram battered Scotland earlier this week, as high winds and rain brought part of the public transport system to a standstill and left homes without power across the country.

The north and west of Scotland bore the brunt of the storm, but challenging conditions were felt nationwide, with power engineers dealing with 22 power cuts from Dunoon to Aberdeenshire by 9pm.

In Edinburgh, a number of attractions at the Christmas Market were closed due to the weather, with the Winter Wonderlands at Glasgow Green and St Enoch Square also shut as a precaution.

Meanwhile, multiple vehicles overturned on the M74 in South Lanarkshire forcing the road to close as Storm Bram caused difficult driving conditions.