Highland rain warning upgrade to amber by Met Office amid fears of ‘significant’ Hogmanay travel disruption
Hogmanay in the Highlands and Moray is set to be a drookit affair after weather warnings for rain were upgraded to amber.
The Met Office has issued a new amber alert centred on Inverness, the Great Glen, Aviemore, Beauly, Dingwall, Rothes and Fort William.
The warning comes into force at immediately after midnight tonight and will remain in place until 5pm on Hogmanay.
The new alert comes on top of existing yellow warnings for rain and snow across the entire Highlands and Moray area, which remain in place.
Speaking after the new amber warning was issued, a Met Office spokesperson said: “After a brief lull during Monday afternoon, another period of heavy rain is expected to develop during Monday night and persist through Tuesday morning before turning to showers on Tuesday afternoon, giving another 50-70mm on top of what has already fallen.
“This is likely to lead to significant travel disruption and may result in some flooding of properties.”
The new warning follows widespread travel disruption on Monday, with flooding causing the closure of the Highland mainline at Kingussie, and multiple other north train journeys cancelled in a bid to accommodate blanket speed restrictions.
Fifteen flood warnings were also in force on rivers in Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Moray and the Cairngorms.
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