FLOODY HELL

A83 Rest and Be Thankful to remain closed overnight due to landslide as heavy rain batters Scotland

THE A83 at Rest and Be Thankful will remain closed overnight due to a "significant" landslide overnight - as Scots brace themselves for another wet weekend.

Diversions are now in place after it was announced both the Old Military Road and the A83 would remain closed.

Traffic Scotland tweeted this morning: "The #A83 and Old Military Road remain CLOSED this morning due to a landslide overnight and heavy rain forecasts which are in place throughout the day⛔️

"The route is being assessed and a further update will be given at 11:30am from @NWTrunkRoads."

While BEAR NW Trunk Roads added: "#A83#RestandbeThankful : due to the on going nature of the landslide and continued rain we are unable to conclude safety assessments.

"The A83 and OMR will remain closed overnight. Diversion via A82,A85,A819."

It comes as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said that between 70mm and 80mm fell across the day yesterday and overnight, with further rain and flooding impacts predicted across the North West of Sunday.

Mark Franklin, SEPA’s Duty Flood Manager, said:  “Yet again we’ve seen Scotland battered by another weekend of wet weather, with flooding impacts across West, Central, North and Southern Scotland.  At the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll, the subject of a second landslip in a matter of weeks, we saw 75mm of rain in a 24 hour period and across the country we saw rainfall of between 70-80mm.

“Our 24/7 flood forecasting and warning centre saw people responding well to our 10 Regional Flood Alerts and 7 Local Flood Warnings and we want to thank those who signed-up overnight for our free Floodline service.

“Whilst Sunday see’s an improving picture for Central and Southern Scotland, we’ll see continued heavy rainfall across the day for the North West.  This is likely to result in further localised flooding of land and roads, as well as some transport disruption before improving on Monday.

"People living, working and travelling in these areas are advised to ensure they have signed up to Floodline and are prepared to take action to protect property. Advice on what you can do to prepare can be found at floodlinescotland.org.uk.”

The A82 between Invergarry and the Spean Bridge has also been closed due to flooding this morning.

It's understood that a vehicle is currently trapped in the flooding.

Traffic Scotland wrote: "The #A82 remains closed in both directions between Invergarry and the Spean Bridge due to a broken down vehicle which has become trapped due to flooding⛔️

"Traffic is building in the area this morning."

Oban Police also took to Twitter this morning, warning: "If you intend travelling this morning then please take care. Most of the roads in the Argyll area are subject to flooding, standing water and some debris."

Loch Lomond & Trossachs also warned drivers about wet conditions.

They wrote: "Lots of water on roads around the National Park this morning. Please take care on the roads and check ahead if you are driving."

We told yesterday how a number of weather and flood alerts had been put in place across the country this weekend.

A "relentless" rain is predicted to batter Scots until midnight tonight - with flooding and travel chaos expected.

The closure of the A83 comes just days after the road reopened - four and a half weeks on from the landslide.

BEAR NW Trunk Roads announced one lane of the road opened under traffic light systems at 10.25am on Monday morning after a landslide left drivers with a 60-mile diversion last month.