Yellow weather warnings issued for Borders

Alerts issued yesterday advising Borderers in the west of the region – particularly Teviotdale, the Ettrick and Yarrow valleys and parts of Tweeddale – to expect heavy rain have been updated to warn of high winds too and also include the southern and eastern Borders.

Those warnings to be aware of Storm Callum, the third named storm of the season, are valid until midnight tonight for wind and until midnight tomorrow for heavy rain.

“Whilst the entire region will experience heavy rain this afternoon, the eastern Borders and Berwickshire coast in particular will see wind gusts increasing during the afternoon up to 50mph,” said Scottish Border Council assistant emergency planning officer Brian MacFarlane.

“The potential impacts of this are some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport, delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges and some short-term loss of power and other services.

“It’s likely that some coastal routes, seafronts and coastal communities affected by spray or large waves

“Whilst not as damaging as the recent Storm Ali winds, it will cause difficult driving conditions on exposed routes on the A1 and A697.

“Heavy rain will affect the majority of the Scottish Borders on Friday and Saturday.

“You can expect difficult driving conditions, with standing water and heavy spray and a risk of localised flooding causing potential disruption to travel.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also issued a general flood alert for the Borders until further notice.

For further details, go to www.metoffice.gov.uk or www.floodlinescotland.org.uk

Today’s stormy weather comes just two days after the region enjoyed its hottest day for weeks, with temperatures hitting 21C in towns including Hawick and Galashiels.