Serious collisions and multiple landslips have been reported in Scotland as extreme rainfall sweeps the country.
Aerial footage shared by search and rescue helicopters showed soil, rocks and earth strewn across the A83 between Tarbet and Lochgilphead – with Police Scotland confirming the road is completely closed.
Officers are urging drivers in Argyll and Bute not to travel at all – with flooding reported on roads nationwide.
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Amber and yellow weather alerts for heavy downpours are in place across large parts of Scotland until Sunday morning – with a month’s worth of rain expected to fall in a single day.
Rail services have also been cancelled, and passengers in England are being urged not to travel to Scotland. Where services are running, reduced speeds are in operation.
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• Avanti West Coast is running no services north of Preston, causing knock-on delays elsewhere
• London North Eastern Railway trains north of Newcastle have been cancelled
• TransPennine Express is urging passengers not to travel on any of their routes to Scotland
• ScotRail is warning of “significant disruption to services”, with some routes suspended
Sporting events have also been disrupted, with the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links golf championship at St Andrews postponed until Sunday.
Dundee’s Scottish Premiership game with Ross County has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch, one of many football matches affected.
Up to 180mm (8in) of rain has been forecast for parts of the Highlands, in what Scottish authorities are describing as a “major rainfall event”.
Ruth Ellis, flood duty manager for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, said: “We’re likely to see extensive river and surface water flooding impacts across those areas. Danger to life, widespread property flooding, flooding of roads and disruption to infrastructure is possible.”
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Summer-like temperatures in the South
There is a substantial North/South divide in the weather this weekend.
Temperatures in South East England could reach 24C (75F) on Saturday and 25C (77F) on Sunday – with the Midlands and Wales also remaining sunny in unusual conditions for October.
Oli Claydon, a spokesman for the Met Office, said the fine and settled conditions will continue throughout the weekend, although there will be slightly more cloud and hazy sunshine on Sunday.
He added: “[It will be] dry for pretty much everyone in the southern half of the country and unseasonably warm temperatures as well.
“As we get into the very far North of England and into Scotland that’s where the difference starts, with some persistent and heavy rain across Scotland and mostly notably in western Scotland, where we’re likely to see the highest totals.”
