Edinburgh weather: Rail commuters face chaos as services cancelled due to relentless heavy rain across Scotland

Series of cancellations until Sunday morning due to the adverse weather conditions

Rail services in parts of Scotland have been suspended, and several trains from England to Edinburgh cancelled, after the Met Office issued an amber alert for rain and floods.

The Met Office has issued a yellow rain warning covering much of the country, with rainfall of 50-75mm forecast in low-lying areas and close to 100mm on higher ground. A separate amber warning covers central Scotland, Tayside and Fife from 3am on Saturday to 6am the following day. The Met Office said this area could get as much as 150-180mm of rainfall accumulating in the wettest spots.

Edinburgh will see heavy rain throughout Saturday and the dreary weather is expected to continue until around 4am on Sunday.

Rail services in parts of Scotland have been suspended, and several trains from England to Edinburgh cancelled, after the Met Office issued an amber alert for rain and floods.

ScotRail has announced a series of cancellations expected to take place until Sunday morning due to the adverse weather conditions.

Customers have been advised to travel only when necessary, to expect delays and to check their journey before setting off.

Updates on ScotRail’s services can be found on the company website, app or social media pages.

Customers whose journey has been cancelled or disrupted due to the weather can travel one day before or two days after the date on their ticket. Fee-free refunds will also be given where this is not applicable.

Avanti West Coast advised customers between Scotland and Preston not to travel, and confirmed there would be no services running north of the latter.

Transpenine Express services between Manchester, Liverpool, Preston to Carlisle and Glasgow and Edinburgh are also affected.

LNER, meanwhile, annouced on Saturday there will be no London North Eastern Railway (LNER) services running north of Newcastle.

Customers with tickets dated for travel between Newcastle and Scotland today will be able to make their journey on LNER services up to and including Tuesday 10 October 2023 or they can request a refund.

The latest information and further details can be found at lner.co.uk and on social channels.

Ruth Ellis, flood duty manager for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, said flooding and widespread transport disruption was likely.

Scotland’s Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop said: “It’s important people plan their journeys before they set off. Motorists should make sure their routes are available, follow the travel advice from Police Scotland and drive in accordance with the conditions.

“If you are planning to travel by train, ferry or plane, please check with your operators to see if the conditions are having any impact on your services.”

On Saturday morning, Vincent Fitzsimmons, of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), said the impact of the rain was already beginning to be felt.

He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We are expecting widespread flooding through today, Saturday and into Sunday morning.”

He added: “It’s very heavy rain, but it will be relentless for a particularly long period of time.

“This is not just a normal wet autumn day. We are concerned about the possibility of significant flooding.

“There is that amber area, it goes from the western half of the central belt through up into the Highlands.