• A Met office amber warning for rain is in place between 00:00 and 15:00 covering Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth and Kinross
• Angus appears to be bearing the brunt of the rain so far, with multiple school closures
• Sepa has warned that rainfall is expected to reach similar levels to Storm Frank in 2015
• Flood warnings are concentrated on eastern Scotland

Image source, Weatherwatchers/Marrow71

• Rail services have been hit by the weather this morning
• The East Coast Line is flooded at Dalgety Bay
• The Dundee-Arbroath service is suspended along with services between Aberdeen and Inverurie
• ScotRail has speed restrictions on many routes
• Some roads are also closed due to flooding
• In Fife, the A907 Halbeath Road in Dunfermline, the A92 in Cupar, Ridley Drive in Rosyth and Invertiel Road in Kirkaldy are all closed
• On the A90 in Forfar, cars are in difficulty in standing water northbound
• The A9 Broxden Roundabout in Perth is flooded, affecting traffic from both the M90 and A9

This was the scene on the B966 near Laurencekirk, according to BBC reporter Davy Shanks.

"Deeper than it looks, and water continuing to run off the fields, and it's still raining, he said.

"Abandoned attempt to take little person swimming at risk of actually having to swim there...."

Fife Jammer Locations has posted this video of cars trying to get through flooding.

Traffic Scotland say the A92 is closed in both directions between Melville Lodges and Parbroath.

Drivers are being advised to use the available local diversion which is being managed by police.

Flooding has closed the Riverside Recycling Centre in Dundee.

Residents are advised to use Baldovie instead until further notice.

Perth and Kinross Council says all roads in the area are affected by surface water. They urged motorists to drive carefully this morning.

• B954 Alyth to Meigle road is closed
• C423 Aberbothrie Road is closed
• B954 between Forgandenny and Forteviot is passable with care
• A94 has reopened

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The BBC has spoken to Vincent Fitzsimons who is head of flooding at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

He said forecasters were expecting similar levels of rain as Storm Frank in 2015-16 - an event which saw hundreds of homes evacuated in the Borders towns of Dumfries, Hawick and Peebles.

Mr Fitzsimons added the ground in the east of Scotland is already saturated and the situation is expected to deteriorate throughout the day.

He said: "Floodwater is very dangerous, the focus today is on eastern Scotland – there we’re expecting an event of a similar magnitude to Storm Frank in 2015-16 so there is a risk of widespread property flooding to some communities in the Angus Aberdeenshire area."

Angus Council says many schools have been closed due to the weather. They include:

• All schools in Montrose
• All Brechin schools
• Monikie Primary
• Newbigging Primary
• Letham Primary
• Inverarity Primary
• Airlie Primary

They said parents and carers have been informed via the Groupcall system. If children have already arrived at school, arrangements should be made to collect them.

BBC Weather Watchers have been sending us photographs of the soggy scenes they are finding this morning.

Muddy-Paws was "walking through an inch of water" on Princes Street, Edinburgh..

"It's lashing down walking through lots of puddles," they told us.

Image source, Muddy-Paws/BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Muddy-Paws/ BBC Weather Watcher

Meanwhile Tyke sent us a pic of flooding at Auchleven in Aberdeenshire.

"It's more like Louisiana," they said.

Image source, Tyke/ BBC Weather Watcher

All school transport has now been cancelled in Angus and all schools in the Brechin area are closed.

Angus Council say if children have already left for school, they will be looked after by available staff.

Ongoing heavy rain is having a significant impact on the local area and the council will issue further updates in due course.

The Met Office says 80mm of rain has fallen in some parts of Scotland in last 48 hours.

It's led to disruption to Scotrai's services:

• The east coast line is flooded at Dalgety Bay. Trains are being diverted via Dunfermline where possible.
• It's also closed between Laurencekirk and Montrose.
• The Dundee-Arbroath service is suspended. Tickets and smartcards are being accepted on Stagecoach bus number 73
• Services betwen Aberdeen-Inverurie are also suspended
• Speed restrictions are in place on many routes, adding a lot of time to journeys

Check your journey before you travel on the ScotRail website, external.

Network Rail Scotland says it's dealing with flooding at Granthouse, between Dunbar and Reston, on the east coast mainline.

And a post on their Twitter page shows the extent of the issue they are facing.

The line is closed in both directions, causing serious disruption for travellers.

BBC Scotland Travel

Heavy rain in many parts of the country is causing some problems this morning. A number of roads are closed.

The M9 in West Lothian has one lane closed northbound at junction 2 Old Philipstoun.

In Fife, the A907 Halbeath Road in Dunfermline, the A92 in Cupar, Ridley Drive in Rosyth and Invertiel Road in Kirkaldy are all closed.

The A916 between Cupar and Kennoway is only just passable.

In Angus, the A935 and the A933 in Brechin, and the A937 in Marykirk are both closed.

And in Aberdeenshire, the A944 at Westhill is closed. The A947 in Whiterashes is now open.

And two other pieces of travel news: In Perth and Kinross, one lane of the A90 is blocked by a collision, southbound between Longforgan and Inchture.

And there are strong winds on the Dornoch Bridge.

Traffic Scotland says it has received reports of a number of cars having difficulty in flood water near Forfar.

The area is covered by a Met Office amber warning for rain which lasts until 15:00.

ScotRail says extreme rainfall is affecting journeys on many routes.

• The east coast line is flooded at Dalgety Bay and the line is closed in both directions. Trains are being diverted via Dunfermline where possible
• Rain has caused a signalling failure near Linlithgow, causing delays of about 30 mins
• Speed restrictions are in place on many routes, adding a lot of time to journeys
• A broken down train in Haymarket is blocking one of the platforms, causing major disruption. Relacement buses are running between Edinburgh Park and Bathgate

Check your journey before you travel on the ScotRail website.

Judith Ralston has the latest weather update on the Met Office warning which remains in place until 18:00.

BBC Scotland Travel

Heavy rain has caused flooding in a number of areas this morning.

In Angus, two roads are closed. The A937 in Marykirk is shut between Marykirk Bridge and the Marykirk Hotel.

The A935 in Brechin is closed from the A90 to the B9134 - which is the road to Forfar. We're getting reports that multiple cars are stuck in floodwater there. Other roads are passable with care.

In Fife, the A92 is closed in both directions at the Parbroath Crossroads due to flooding. Motorists are advised to use the local diversion.

In Aberdeenshire, extra care's needed on the A947 in Whiterashes and the A944 in Westhill. The roads are flooded, but open.

On the M9 at junction 2 (Philpstoun), lane two is closed due to flooding.

'The forecast has certainly not been wrong'published at 07:16 Greenwich Mean Time 18 November 2022

07:16 GMT 18 November 2022

Ken Banks
BBC Scotland North East and Northern Isles reporter

The amber weather warning forecast was for heavy persistent rain and that has certainly not been wrong.

The downpour began in earnest on Thursday evening and did not appear to relent during the night.

Here in Aberdeen the windows have been rattling with the wind, and the rain could be heard battering down during an interrupted night of sleep.

On social media there are reports of disruption on the north east’s roads.

It is an in-service day for schools in Aberdeen so at least pupils are not having to travel in this horrendous weather. Teachers are not so lucky.

The advice for anyone who feels their journey is absolutely necessary is to take extra care on the roads, as surface water and flooding is inevitable.

Christopher Blanchett
BBC Scotland weather presenter

We’re stuck in an unsettled pattern of weather: low pressure systems barrelling in off the Atlantic delivering weather fronts, persistent rain and high winds.

These systems are running into high pressure to our north east, which effectively stops them in their tracks and means the rain almost grinds to a halt overhead, allowing the amount of rain falling from the sky to really mount up.

In just a few days, parts of eastern Scotland could see 75% of their total normal November rainfall. Some of the hills across Angus and southern Aberdeenshire could see more than a month’s worth in the same time period.

Inevitably this will lead to poor conditions for those travelling, with surface water, spray and low visibility. We’ll also see the risk of flooding in some areas, with disruption to the transport network likely, and that’s why we have Met Office weather warnings in force.

There’s always a lag between the rain falling and any subsequent impacts, such as rising river levels, which means we may continue to see problems into the weekend.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for heavy rain in parts of eastern Scotland.

It warned of fast-flowing or deep floodwater "causing danger to life". The alert is in place for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth and Kinross from midnight on Thursday until 15:00 on Friday.

The Met Office said some areas could see as much rain in the next 24 to 36 hours as would be expected during the entire month of November. There is also a yellow warning of rainfall on high ground, with up to 100mm (4in) possible across the hills of Aberdeenshire and Angus.