Flood warning as rain hits Scotland

Tourists sheltering from the rain

By Amanda Keenan

SCOTLAND was put on flood alert last night as heavy rainfall swept in across much of the country following weeks of sunshine which had caused some areas to issue drought warnings.

Flash warnings of heavy rain have been issued by the Met Office for large parts of Aberdeenshire, Moray, Tayside, Fife, Lanarkshire and the Lothian’s.

Persistent and heavy rain saw around 15mm fall within just three hours in some places early on and as much as 35mm was expected in others.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said it was monitoring water levels on rivers across Dumfries and Galloway – just weeks after the region was subject of a drought order application.

Soaking Scottish summer sparks Tesco to scrap barbecue food

By Michael MacLeod

TESCO cashed-in on Scotland’s dismal weather by employing their own weathermen to advise them to swap summer barbecues for “rainy day food.”

As the heavens opened above Scotland last week – bringing flooding chaos to roads and rivers – the supermarket giant’s six-strong team of weather data boffins swung into action.

They had already predicted the deluge and quickly arranged for a shop-floor turnaround, clearing shelves of summer snacks and whisking in extra “autumn” food orders in their place.

The store said the soaking summer saw sales of roast potatoes – traditionally a winter food – soaring by a scorching 454 per-cent, while soup sales rocketed by 88 per-cent.

Sales of traditional kids’ board-games were also boosted by the downpours as youngsters spent the end of their summer holidays indoors.

Tesco branded existing weather reports as “unreliable,” instead entrusting their own team in a bid to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in food wastage by matching supply with demand.

Boot-up for a mudfest at T in the Park in 2009

By Michael MacLeod

REVELLERS should pack their wellies for T in the Park this year as forecasters are predicting a muddy washout.

Torrential downpours and thunderstorms next week are set to leave the Balado festival site soaked, with the Met Office predicting localised flooding.

But with 10 days to go, organisers insist the heavy rain won’t put the festival in jeopardy.

And local garden centres are stocking up on Wellington boots and waterproofs to cash in on the mudbath.

In 2007 many retailers ran out of wellies on the first day of Scotland’s biggest music event, leaving music lovers with no option but to trudge around the Kinross site up to their knees in mud.