Scotland endures wettest winter on record

The flooded pitch of Hawick RFC after the River Teviot burst its banks after Storm Desmond tore through Britain in December

Met Office statistics show an average of 756mm of rain fell across the country during December, January and February – the highest on records stretching back to 1910.

The downpours brought severe flooding and led to hundreds of people being evacuated from their homes.

There were floods in Hawick, Peebles, Coldstream and elswhere across the Scottish Borders.

Argyllshire was the wettest area in Scotland, recording 1055.7mm of rain from December to February 24 – almost double the average of 697.5mm.

Kirkcudbrightshire also saw almost double the average rainfall, with 1025.6mm compared to 645.1mm.

Two of the last three years have brought record-breaking levels of winter rain, with this year beating the previous record set in 2013/14 of 744mm of rain.

Storms in December led to the national rainfall reaching 351.4mm, more than double the usual total for the month.

January recorded a rise of 45% on the average for the month at 257.5mm, while February’s total as of last week was 124.6 – just under average.

A Met Office spokesman said: “The record-breaking mild and wet weather of December has had a big influence on winter 2015/16 as a whole.

“The fact that it was so wet during the first half means that it is very wet overall.”