Storm Babet to batter Scotland with rain, floods and 70mph gusts as 'danger' alerts issued

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Storm Babet is set to batter Scotland with heavy rain this week, sparking fears of more devastating floods.The Met Office has named the second storm of the season, which will bring a month's worth of rain within the space of a few days and gusts of up to 70mph.Forecasters have issued severe weather warnings for both rain and wind stretching across for four days from Wednesday until Saturday.

Scots have been urged to make sure their homes and businesses are protected from floods as Storm Babet will likely cause severe disruption from the "heavy and persistent rainfall".It comes just weeks after several areas of Scotland were hit by floods when days of torrential rain caused rivers to overflow and railway tracks to be submerged underwater.Parts of Scotland still recovering from flooding will again be affected by torrential rain from Tuesday evening until midnight on Saturday.

The warning covers Angus, Dundee, Stirling, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands. The first yellow rain warning begins on Wednesday at 9pm, lasting until midday on Saturday, with a separate wind warning kicking on Thursday at 6am.The rain is due to high pressure over Scandinavia that will cause the fronts to stall over Scotland leading to persistent heavy rainfall in the region through much of Thursday and Friday.It comes after Storm Agnes wreaked havoc last month, as 80mph gales battered the country.

Meanwhile, the UK experienced its first autumn frost today with temperatures dropping to -2.2C in the Scottish Highlands. Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Steven Keates said: “Storm Babet will bring impactful rain to many parts of the UK, but especially parts of eastern Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England later this week.