Edinburgh weather: Flood warning as Met Office forecasts heavy rain

Hour-by-hour forecast of how storm will develop

Edinburgh is bracing itself for heavy rain and strong winds from the early hours of Friday morning as weather experts warn of possible flooding.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rain bringing some flooding and travel disruption, lasting from 3am until 6pm on Friday. It says spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures. Where flooding occurs, there is said to be a slight chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services.

And the Met Office warned of “a small chance” that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings and that some communities will become cut off by flooded roads.

Heavy flooding last month saw cars trapped at busy junction in Granton. Picture: John Devlin.

The area covered by the yellow warning includes Edinburgh and a large swathe of Scotland stretching across to the west coast and from north of Perth down to Dumfries and Galloway, but the area to the east of the Capital, including East Lothian, is not covered by the warning.

Traffic Scotland warn: “Heavy rain will develop in the early hours of Friday morning, lasting into the afternoon before clearing from the west. 15-30mm will fall widely within a 12-hour period with 60-80mm possible in a few areas, mainly across high ground in the southwest.”

According to the Met Office forecast for Edinbugh, there will be wind gusts of around 24mph from 1am and an 80 per cent chance of rain by 2am.

And this is how the storm is expected to develop on Friday:

4am – a 90 per cent chance of rain and wind gusts of 30mph

5am – rain still at 90 per cent, wind gusts increasing to 33mph

6am – wind gusts reaching 37mph with rain continuing at 90 per cent

7am – still 37mph wind gusts and 90 per cent chance of rain

8am – wind gusts build to 39mph with rain at 80 per cent

9am – wind gusts of 38mph and rain still at 80 per cent

10am – chance of rain increases again to 90 per cent but wind gusts drop to 28mph

11am – wind gusts fall to 24mph but rain remains at 90 per cent

noon – the storm calms, with rainfall dropping to 40 per cent and the sun coming out, while wind gusts remain at 24mph

By 1pm, the chance of rain drops to 30 per cent and then falls further to 10 per cent from 2pm until 5pm, when it increases to 30 per cent and 40 per cent at 6pm. But wind speeds begin to build again, with gusts forecast to increase from 28mph at 2pm to 30mph at 3pm and 35mph at 4pm. The Met Office then predicts wind gusts of 34mph at 5pm, rising to 37mph at 6pm and 7pm before dropping to 35mph at 8pm and 33mph at 9pm, then 26mph at 10pm.