CalMac has confirmed more ferry services will be disrupted due to the bad weather.

Sailings from Gourock to Dunoon and Kilcreggan are off for the rest of the day because of "essential engineering works within the Gourock Harbour Area".

Saturday's services from Ardmhor and Fionnphort are "highly liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice", while an amended timetable has been put in place for sailings from Oban to Coll and Tiree.

Image source, Carnoustie Caledonia Golf Club

Carnoustie's world-famous golf course has been flooded by the torrential rain.

Carnoustie Caledonia Golf Club said: "We have taken the decision to close the club for the rest of today due to the flooding on Links Parade and our footpaths being flooded.

"The ladies' prizegiving that was due to take place tonight has been postponed and a new date will be made in due course."

Ferry sailings to and from Shetland have been cancelled for a fourth day in a row.

Northlink Ferries said bad weather had scuppered sailings again but it was hoped services would resume on Saturday.

Some shops in Shetland have empty shelves as a result of the lack of deliveries in recent days.

The next sailing from Aberdeen is expected in Lerwick on Sunday morning.

The BBC's Ben Philips has been on River Street in Brechin where he described the nearby South Esk as a "fierce torrent, fast-flowing river".

Flood defences appear to be containing the river itself but problems have been caused by the nearby burn.

He said the water appeared to be "flowing down the streets here and funnelling into this area".

"It's essentially being trapped by river defences," he said.

"The river defences are working but it's the water that's coming from up the hill that's the problem today".

Firefighters have been pumping away the water but some homes have been flooded.

BBC Scotland Weather

In less than 48 hours, Aboyne in Aberdeenshire has recorded more than a month's worth of rain. Several other locations are not far behind.

Image source, Angus Council

Angus Council has urged drivers in the region not to drive through flooded roads.

The local authority said its road network was heavily impacted by the heavy and persistent rain.

It said rescuing people was "taking up a lot of valuable time from resilience partners."

Despite its best efforts, Network Rail has admitted defeat on the East Coast Main Line for the remainder of Friday.

The rail company tweeted: "We’re sorry – despite our best efforts, the East Coast Main Line has been closed for the rest of the day, due to flooding at Grantshouse.

LNER is advising customers not to tavel between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

CrossCountry trains says it has a limited number of replacement coaches running. Passengers who decide not to travel will get a full refund.

Severe flood warnings have been issued for Brechin, Finavon and Tannadice. They are among seven similar warnings across the north and east of Scotland.

River levels in the South Esk will continue to rise into this evening and are predicted to peak higher than those experienced during Storm Frank in December 2015.

Angus Council said a rest centre will be opened at Brechin Community Campus this afternoon.

Thre are reports of homes being flooded in Ballater, Aberdeenshire.

The village is already the focus of a severe flood warning, alongside Kintore, Kemnay, Inverurie, and Aberdeen at the River Dee.

Aberdeenshire Council said community rest centres were being set up at Victoria and Albert Hall in Ballater, as well as Aboyne Academy, Inverurie Community Campus and Kemnay Academy.

Ellie Kinghorn filmed this video, seen on the Braemar, Ballater and Deeside Weather Page, external.

The severe weather continues to cause disruption, with Met Office amber weather warning for heavy rain extended until 21:00. These are the latest developments:

• There are six severe flood warnings in place for Kintore, Kemnay, Inverurie, Ballater, Aberdeen (Dee), and Finavon and Tannadice, near Forfar.
• The fire service says they are receiving a high volume of flooding calls from Brechin, Forfar and Dundee.
• Dozens of schools are closed across Angus, where residents in Brechin are protecting their homes from rising floodwaters.
• No trains are running betwen Dundee and Aberdeen, Aberdeen and Inverness, Perth and Inverness, Inverness and Wick. Only limited replacement transport in available.
• In Fife, the A92 at the Parbroath crossroads is closed in both directions due to flooding.
• The A96 at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, is closed due to flooding near the railway bridge
• Flooding is also affecting the A9 at the Broxden roudabout, Perth, and the M9 junction 2 (Philpstoun). Drivers are being advised to take care.
• Flooding at Stracathro on the A90 has cleared.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says it is receiving a high number of emergency calls about flooding from people in Brechin, Forfar and Dundee.

These areas in the east of Scotland have been experiecing heavy rain over the last few days and are currently subject to Met Office weather warnings.

"We ask the public for their co-operation," the fire service said. "Please only call if there is a serious emergency with risk to life," they said.

Lunchtime Live
BBC Radio Scotland

Vincent Fitzsimons, flood duty manager at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Lunchtime Live that worse was still to come in the rest of Friday.

He said: “The rivers are rising and will continue to rise through the course of Friday. Some of these rivers will then not peak until early Saturday morning.

“The event in the north-east is similar in magnitude to that of Storm Frank in 2016 and some rivers will, by the end of the day, have seen record high flows.”

“The key advice is: do not drive into flooded water, do not walk into flooded water.”

Mr Fitzsimons said the dry summer followed by the wet winter to date was following the predicted impact of climate change on Scotland.

Residents in Brechin have been trying to protect their property by putting sandbags at their doors.

Lynn Walker, 33, said she got a fright this morning. The River Esk is spilling into her street and is coming dangerously close.

"This morning my stepdaughter went to leave for college and we realised she wouldn't be going when we saw the water was up to the door.

"As the day has gone on, the more we've looked outside, the worse it's become. It's not inside the house yet."

She is worried about her nine-month-old son and is making plans for somewhere to go, and what to take.

"There's not been any official support," she said. "These sandbags have been done by the neighbours and local people."

Ben Philip
BBC Scotland

Brechin is an area which has a history of flooding, and locals woke this morning to ankle-deep flood water flowing outside their homes.

It appears this flooding has not been caused by an overflowing river – it is in fact flowing from a higher ground burn and funnelling into the street and essentially being trapped by river defences on the other side of homes.

The fire brigade has been on site, trying to pump some of the water away.

Residents have been trying to take matters into their own hands to defend their properties.

Sandbags and flood gates are keeping the water at bay for some, but for others the water level was too high and some of those homes have been flooded.

Angus Council closed dozens of schools, including those in Brechin and also in nearby Montrose.

And the rain is still coming down.

Image source, Sepa

Sepa now has five severe flood warnings in place for Kintore, Kemnay, Inverurie, Ballater and Aberdeen (Dee).

This means there is expected to be:

• widespread flooding affecting whole communities
• danger to life
• severe travel disruption
• large-scale evacuations
• collapse of buildings and loss of infrastructure

Image source, Sepa

CalMac is forced to cancel some ferry services because the adverse weather combined with pier work is making it unsafe for the boats to arrive and depart.

One of the entrances to Bell Street car park in Dundee.