SEPA Update 19.00 Sun 8th Oct - Flooding focus remains on north as SEPA warn communities to stay alert overnight

Issued by SEPA

Alerts and Warnings as at 19:00 - check floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates for latest situation

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have warned communities to stay vigilant as the weekend of severe weather continues across Sunday evening and into Monday morning. 

Multiple Flood Warnings and Alerts are in place across Scotland, with the focus remaining on the Spey and Tay catchments.

While local Flood Warnings in some areas of Scotland may start coming off over the evening as rivers fall, others will stay in force as some waters continue to rise and the agency continues to warn of likely impacts as communities count the cost of the weekend’s flood damage. 

Ruth Ellis, SEPA’s Flood Duty Manager, said: 

“Today the focus turned to communities across the North, with a particular concern for severe flood impacts to communities along the Spey and Tay rivers. I want to be clear that communities in these areas should stay alert over the evening as some rivers will continue to rise over the course of the evening. The risk to life remains.

"It’s been a difficult weekend across Scotland, with severe weather causing widespread travel disruption to road and rail networks and impacts in communities all over Scotland. Across many areas of the country there is still some deep standing water and it’s really important people understand the danger. Hazards can be hidden, so please don’t walk or drive into flood water. Remember that not only is flood water likely to be dirty, 30 cm of fast flowing water can move an average family sized car, and just 15 cm of fast flowing water could be enough to knock you off your feet.

“Our teams have been working around the clock with partner agencies, including Scottish Government, the Met Office, emergency services and local authorities across this major weather event. We will continue to provide information and support in the coming days and weeks to ensure Scotland recovers from this event and becomes more resilient to future flooding.

"We’ll be continuing to issue further updates across the evening to communities across northern Scotland and our advice remains for people to keep up to date with information from sepa.org.uk and follow guidance from emergency services.” 

Notes to editors

Staying informed

Be prepared and stay safe

  • Check the latest advice on what to do to prepare for flooding at www.floodlinescotland.org.uk
  • Don’t walk through flood water – 15cm of fast flowing water could be enough to knock you off your feet and hazards can be hidden under the water.
  • Drive with care, and do not travel through deep fast flowing water. It only takes 30cm of fast flowing water to move an average family sized car.
  • If you’re walking beside rivers be extra careful of wet footpaths and small watercourses.
  • Consider deploying flooding protection products if required.

What’s the difference between a Flood Alert and a Flood Warning?

We use forecast weather information provided by the Met Office combined with our own observation of rainfall and river levels and advanced hydrological modelling to provide advance warning of flooding.

  • Regional Flood Alerts are early advice that flooding is possible across a wider geographical area. The purpose of the Alerts is to make people aware of the risk of flooding and be prepared. We normally issue them 12 to 24 hours in advance of the possibility of flooding.
  • Flood Warnings are more locally specific and are issued for areas where we have gauges on rivers to measure the exact river height. They are issued at shorter notice when we are more certain that a specific area will be affected.
8 Oct 2023

This article was published
8 Oct 2023

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