Thunderstorms set to hit Scotland as yellow weather warning issued

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms and rain has been put in place for parts of Scotland this weekend.

The warning, in place from 4pm on Saturday until 12am on Sunday, will cover Fife, Strathclyde, the Highlands, Grampian, and South West Scotland.

It has been stated that between 30mm and 40mm of rain could fall in a few hours.

Difficult travel conditions and possible flooding have also been included in the warning, and those in affected areas have been urged to remain cautious.

There is a “slight” chance that areas could experience power cuts and loss of services like Wi-Fi and phone outages.

Spray and flooding could lead to difficulties for drivers, possible road closures, and damage to homes and businesses is also possible from adverse weather conditions.

Insight Sean Batty Meteorologist

I’m sure you’ll have noticed the humid feel to the air in the last day or two, and this plume of air will bring the possibility of some torrential downpours this weekend along with a thunder risk.

On Saturday, it looks like the worst of the rain will spread across central and eastern parts of the country during the afternoon and evening, with the focus around the Borders, Edinburgh, Lothians, Lanarkshire, Fife, Angus and Aberdeenshire.

In these areas we can expect 20-30mm of rain to fall quite widely, but a few spots could see some heavier downpours which could take totals towards 75mm, which would be the equivalent of a months’ worth of rain.

Obviously this quantity of rain could cause some issues locally. It’s this sort of rainfall which causes the type of flooding which sees deep puddles develop on roads, making some impassable, and underpasses to become flooded – typical of summer downpours.

It looks like another spell of heavy thundery rain will move north on Sunday, with again a focus on eastern areas, but may extend a bit further west than Saturday’s into the likes of Glasgow, Ayrshire and parts of Argyll. This again brings the risk of some further flooding.

There are plenty of events planned across the weekend — including The Tall Ships Races in Aberdeen, the Kirriemuir Agricultural Show, Crail Fest, and the Merchant City Festival. Keep an eye on updates for these and, if you’re heading out, don’t forget your rain gear (and maybe a towel!).