Flooding and road closures hit parts of Badenoch and Strathspey

The night sleeper from London to Inverness only got as far as Kingussie on Monday morning, thanks to Hurricane Bertha.

With Badenoch - "The flooded land" - inundated by the storm nowhere was worse hit than the centre of its capital, Kingussie.

The River Gynack, flowing through the town, had burst its banks so badly that the railway line was more of a river itself by the time the train pulled in shortly after seven o'clock.

All 80 passengers had a rude awakening and missed their breakfast as they had to be transferred to two local coaches for the resumption of their journey.

First Scotland were soon on the scene to inspect the damage, as all local emergency services got down to work while praying the rain would soon abate and allow the levels to subside, so that the full extent of the flood could be gauged.

The Highland Wildlife Park went unopened for the day, with the B9152 road at Kincraig promptly shut due to the high water levels.

The A938 road west of Duthil was also shut but it was expected to reopen later once traffic signals are installed.

The Gynack Burn in Kingussie remains very high and there is local flooding within the town. The Highland Council offices at Kingussie Station are inaccessible due to flooding in the car park – calls have been redirected.

The authority’s services point was not due to open until 2pm and a council spokeswoman said the situation was being reviewed.

Highland Council’s Community Services said they have been busy responding to various situations across the region due to high winds and rain from the tail end of the hurricane.

The spokeswoman said: "Community services teams are in full response and are dealing with events as priorities dictate. In the interest of safety motorists are advised to adhere to road closure signs."

There are minor flooding issues reported across the Inverness area but at this time there are not believed to be any road closures.

The Met Office issued an Amber "be prepared" warning for heavy rain in parts of the Highlands and Islands and Grampian late yesterday afternoon.

Up 100mm of rain is expected in the Moray, Speyside and Easter Ross areas in 24 hours.

Transport Scotland and our partners, including the local authorities, SEPA and Police Scotland are closely monitoring the situation to make sure that we are well prepared for the conditions.

Traffic Scotland Operator Manager Stein Connelly said: "The Met Office is telling us that parts of the North Eas

t and Highlands & Islands are likely to face difficult road conditions due to heavy rain tonight and into Monday morning.

"We would advise people in these areas to prepare for some travel disruption and to allow extra time for their journeys. They should also check the relevant websites for up to date travel information.

"Transport Scotland is in regular contact with The Met Office, Police Scotland and the operating companies and will continue to monitor the conditions throughout tonight and tomorrow."

Marc Becker, Hydrology Duty Manager, for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said last night: "Wet and windy weather is expected over many parts of Scotland today and into tomorrow which has the potential to result in some localised flooding especially across the east and north of the country."

The SEPA website has the latest on flood alerts (http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/) or call SEPA’s Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

The Traffic Scotland twitter feed @trafficscotland and website www.trafficscotland.org provides the latest information on travel conditions across the country.

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