Severe flooding brings Hogmanay disruptionon December 31, 2022 at 5:45 pm

Travellers are facing Hogmanay disruption on Scotland’s railways after Friday’s floods.

The West Coast Mainline is closed between Carlisle and Scotland with a landslip causing damage to the track.

The Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh line had to be closed for a number of hours due to severe flooding but it has since reopened.

Two flood warnings and three alerts are still in place for parts of central Scotland.

Network Rail said its engineers had been assessing the landslip on the west coast mainline to establish what repairs are needed to reopen the railway south of Carstairs. It said the line would remain closed for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, engineers worked through the night to clear a landslip on the line just south of Markinch station in Fife.

Train passengers for services north of Edinburgh and south from Aberdeen and Inverness are currently advised not to travel.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has confirmed that there are no longer flood warnings in place for Dumfries and Galloway after the River Nith overflowed its banks in Dumfries on Friday.

At one point on Friday Sepa had 10 regional flood alerts in place, along with 29 local flood warnings and a severe flood warning for Dumfries.

The severe flood warning that was issued for Whitesands on Friday night has been reversed although flood alerts are still in place.

Sepa said levels at the River Nith were the highest ever recorded, higher than Storm Frank in 2015 and flooding in December 1982.

The flood warnings are:

Marc Becker, Sepa’s flood duty manager said: “Across Friday we saw Scotland hit with yet another significant flood event, with southern and central Scotland heavily impacted this time in particular. This comes after recent flooding impacts in the east and north-east of Scotland in November.

“What made Friday’s event notable was not only the intense nature of the rainfall, but also the rapid and extreme rises in river levels which led, in the Nith, to the highest ever recorded river levels.

“Whilst across Hogmanay and New Year’s Day we’re seeing an improving picture, we’ll see rain, sleet and snow on higher grounds, particularly across the Bells.

“With residual impacts on the ground, particularly in Southern and Central Scotland, we’re encouraging people living, working and travelling to remain vigilant, steer clear of flood water and follow the latest information from Sepa, transport authorities and Police Scotland.”

Two yellow weather warnings remain in place heading into the New Year.

An ice warning has been issued for Grampian, Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland from 18:00 until 11:00 on Sunday.

An alert for snow runs from 22:00 on Saturday until 10:00 on Sunday, covering southern and central Scotland, Grampian and the Highlands.

The Met Office said the deadly bomb cyclone that sent temperatures plunging in the US over Christmas was causing the unsettled weather in the UK.

Meteorologist Simon Patridge said the impact on Scotland would be “nowhere near as dramatic”.

The Dumfries and Galloway Virtual Operations Support Team website was activated on Friday, signifying a major incident in the region.

Dumfries and Galloway Council closed The Whitesands in Dumfries to traffic from 10:00, before the River Nith burst its banks in the afternoon.

Nith Councillor David Slater said he remembered plans to install a flood system in Dumfries dating as far back as 2000.

He began a campaign for a flood barrier in 2015 after there had been several failed attempts.

“I brought engineers from a flood barrier company down here who do these rising walls,” he said.

“They came and spoke at a meeting in George Street and 150 people attended and it was virtually unanimous that people would want something like this to keep the views of the river and keep the car parking as well because that’s very important for the town.”

Although a flood barrier has been approved following a public inquiry, the planning team has requested an extension from the Scottish government because its current deadline is 23 March.

“It’s now years out of date,” Cllr Slater added. “Technology has moved on in leaps and bounds and we’re trying to build something that many thousands of people have said no to because it will build over the steps of the bridge.

“Most politicians stand beside the bridge, its the most photographed area in the town, the bridge is very old.”

Ross Anderson, who runs the bike shop and cafe, the Frothy Bike company in Dumfries says his premises have been severely flooded.

He said: “We got down before the water crossed the road, we had time to put sandbags down as best we could.

“I’d say still at the time we didn’t know how deep it was going to be so we built about a 2ft sandbag wall out the front, put our pumps in place, put sandbags at the back door.

“We had loads of family helpers in here so we took down our Christmas decorations, we thought it was going to be a usual flood to our front door and nothing more but evidently it was more.”

He said that within an hour the water was knee deep in the shop and that he main damage had been to cooking equipment and white goods.

His team have already begun the clean-up.

“If we work hard over the next week, it might well open the first week of January,” he added.

“If it’s the second week then that’s acceptable but if it leads into February because of complications or financial reasons, that’s when it’ll really start to take its toll on the business.

“The longer we stay shut, the harder it is to open, it’s not easy.”