Torrential rain leads to flooding in Scotland

Torrential rain has caused havoc in parts of north and north-east Scotland, with floodwaters causing roads to collapse and people forced to evacuate their properties.

Strong winds and rains battered the Highlands on Monday and Tuesday (11-12 August) as the remnants of Hurricane Bertha hit the region.

See also: Bertha puts harvest on hold

A month’s rainfall was recorded in 12 hours in some areas, with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency issuing more than 40 flood warnings covering Aberdeenshire, Speyside, Moray, Caithness and Sutherland, and Tayside.

More than 200 people had to be evacuated from Elgin, while the rain was so heavy that it caused a track to collapse on farmland at Delnies near Nairn.

A picture posted on Twitter (above) by user InverOutlanders showed a track and verges slumped into a pit, with pigs kept nearby standing at the edge.

Meanwhile, a woman in the Highlands had to be saved by rescuers after she got stuck as she tried to herd her sheep away from a flooded barn.

The woman, who farms near Drumrunie, near Ullapool, was reached by coastguard teams and fire crews after a nearby river burst its banks.

“A woman was stuck in her shed with her sheep,” a coastguard spokesman told the Press and Journal.

“The fire and rescue service and coastguard teams performed a water rescue and took her back to her house.

“Her sheep are still stuck inside the barn, but the water looked like it was receding.”

The bad weather also caused the final day of the Keith Show to be cancelled.

Scotland’s finance secretary John Swinney said he would consider emergency funding for local authorities to help deal with the flood damage.

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