Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland officers and agencies on the ground are facing "extremely challenging conditions".

He says the force is working with its emergency service partners and other agencies to ensure "the best possible support" is given to flood-hit communities.

Assistant Chief Constable Houston thanked those who had followed the travel advice.

He adds: "The red warning is still there and significant flooding issues do pose a threat to life.

"I would urge that caution to everybody to still heed those warnings about not travelling into areas specifically affected by this extreme weather."

Assistant Chief Constable Houston was unable to provide any more details about the woman's death in Angus and says inquires remain "ongoing".

Waterside Perth on the river North Esk has seen the highest total rainfall since Storm Babet first swept in on Wednesday afternoon.

As of 07:00 on Friday, 164mm (6.5in) fell in the area, with Forfar in Angus and Aboyne in Aberdeenshire being the second and third most severely hit across the UK.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland’s Transport Secretary Màiri McAllan says her thoughts and those of her government colleagues are with the family of the woman whose body was recovered from a river in Angus on Thursday.

The minister attended a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Room last night and confirms it will convene again later to assess the situation.

She tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We are not through this yet. We are still in the midst of a very difficult situation.

"Light is just breaking this morning and I suspect more of the damage will become clear."

Ms McAllan thanked those working on the ground in storm-hit areas, including scores of volunteers, for their efforts during one of the country's most challenging weather events.

She also confirms river levels in Brechin peaked at 03:45 and said the South Esk is expected to peak again later this morning.

A major search is under way after reports that a man was trapped in a vehicle in floodwater near the Aberdeenshire village of Marykirk.

A Coastguard helicopter and coastal rescue teams are among those involved.

The alarm was raised at about 03:00.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Multi-agency searches are ongoing and the public are asked to avoid the area for their safety.”

Travel across Scotland has been hit by the weather conditions, especially in the north east where the most severe warning are still in place.

ON THE ROADS

• Several sections of major Scottish roads are closed due to Storm Babet.
• The A85 at Huntingtower near Perth is closed due to flooding.
• The A9 Jubilee Bridge near Dunkeld in Perthshire is closed due to adverse "weather conditions".
• In Aberdeenshire, the A90 Stonehaven Road is closed north of the Stonehaven junction to southbound traffic.
• The A90 between Ellon and Bogbrae in Aberdeenshire is closed due to a fallen tree.
• The A90 between Myrekirk and Swallow Roundabouts in Dundee is closed due to flooding.
• The A7 in both directions at Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway is closed due to a fallen tree.
• The A90 Ellon Road is closed both ways between Ellon and Bogbrae.
• In Montrose, the A92 Lower Northwater Bridge is closed .
• The Tay Road Bridge, the Dornoch bridge and Forth Road bridge are all closed to high-sided vehicles.
• In Argyll, the A83 is closed in both directions at Inveraray.
• The A93 is blocked from Kinclaven to Cargill.
• At Wormit in Fife, the A92 is closed by flooding from the Forgan roundabout to the A913 at Lindifferon.
• In Kilmany, the A92 is blocked along to Rathillet.

ON THE TRAINS

• ScotRail said train services remain suspended on several routes in north and north-east Scotland. They are suspended between Aberdeen and Elgin; Edinburgh and Aberdeen via Fife; Perth and Aberdeen via Dundee; Dunblane and Perth; Perth and Aviemore; and Tain and Wick/Thurso. All Fife Circle services are also suspended, impacting services between Glasgow Queen Street and Aberdeen/Inverness; and Edinburgh Waverley and Aberdeen/Inverness.

ON THE FERRIES

• Orkney ferries has withdrawn services incuding its Hoy Head and Graemsay runs.
• Northlink's Aberdeen-Shetland service has been cancelled but this afernoon's Pentland Firth run might go ahead - it's under review.
• CalMac has cancelled a few services including Skye, Sound of Harris , Lewis and Mull.
• The Western Ferry is off, that's Gourock - Dunoon,
• The Renfrew - Yoker ferry is off for now.

Image source, PA Media

As we have been reporting, fire and rescue crews worked through the night to evacuate as many people as possible from their homes in Brechin.

The conditions they have faced have been extreme to say the least.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, East Lothian Council

Pascal Lardet, flood duty manager at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme it has issued a fifth severe flood warning, which covers Brechin and Angus.

He says: "We are in a very challenging, serious and potentially dangerous situation."

Mr Lardet says the amount of rainfall has been "exceptional" and the problems have been exacerbated by strong winds.

He adds thatin one area the agency recorded 175mm of rain on Thursday.

Mr Lardet warns that the affected areas are "just in the middle of the event" and the situation will continue to develop over the next 48 hours.

He also cautions that any decrease in water levels will be "very slow" and urges people to continue to follow flood safety advice.

Steven Godden
BBC Scotland reporter in Brechin

Image source, PA Media

As daylight starts to appear, the fire and rescue boat crews are working hard in the Brechin floodwater.

Streets close to the river have been overwhelmed by water which breached the flood defences around 4am.

We’ve watched the crews work their way from house to house, searching by torchlight initially.

Repeatedly, they’ve returned to dry land with people who had been trapped in their houses

Some of them were huddled beneath blankets.

All of them were cold, wet and shocked at what’s unfolded here overnight.

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

It’s an atrocious start to the day for many northern areas of the UK, with heavy rain this morning and impacts of Storm Babet continuing.

We’ve still got the rare and most severe red warning in force across Angus, south Aberdeenshire and Tayside where the rain hasn’t stopped since yesterday morning.

Well over a month's worth of rain has fallen in some areas of eastern Scotland with close to 16cm in the Grampian hills. There’s more to come today with the flooding situation likely to get worse before it gets any better.

Additionally, an amber warning is also in force from south-east Scotland, down the Pennine region to Nottinghamshire and Cheshire from noon on Friday until 06:00 Saturday.

Persistent and heavy rain will bring the risk of flooding, enhanced to the east of the Pennines with a strong easterly wind.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, PA Media

Brechin councillor Gavin Nicol tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland he is "distressed" about what is happening in the Angus town.

He says revised modelling from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) suggests the level of the River Esk will rise to 5m today.

Mr Nicol adds: "We have got much more water to come yet."

He says previous flood events have been manageable but describes the impact of Storm Babet as "exceptional".

Mr Nicol also tells the programme: "We were not expecting these flood defences to be breached the way they have been."

Louise Hosie
BBC Scotland reporter in Brechin

Image source, bbc

In Brechin this morning, resident Kim Clark tells BBC Scotland News she is waiting for the fire service to rescue her from her home by boat. Kim remained in her house overnight, despite Angus Council advice to evacuate, as she couldn’t bring herself to leave. “We’ve no longer got a river, it’s now in my garden and right into my house," she says. "The street is now the river. “I’m waiting for the fire brigade to come and get me. “They’re getting my elderly neighbour first. She was screaming in her bungalow. “The water is right in my house. It’s come right up. I’ve lost everything.”

David Simpson, ScotRail service delivery director, tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that services are not running from Edinburgh through Fife to Dundee and up to Aberdeen.

Other routes affected include:

• Dunblane through Perth over to Dundee
• Perth to Aviemore
• Aberdeen to Elgin
• Tain up to Wick and Thurso

He tells the programme: "These are the areas which are most affected by the current weather warnings.

"Away from that we do have some speed restrictions on some lines, particularly the West Highlands in response to the high wind.

Mr Simpson adds that the advice to check before you travel, external as services may be affected through the day due to the "challenging conditions".

Angus Council closed its schools at midday on Thursday. It said they will remain shut on Friday to "ensure the safety of children, young people, parents, and school staff".

Primary and secondary schools in the Aberdeenshire Council area are already closed for the October holidays, but the council confirmed both Crombie School and Bervie School nurseries will also be closed today.

Highland Council announced it was putting defence mechanisms in place in Kingussie, including around the high school.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, PA Media

Claire Nasir, senior broadcast meteorologist, with the Met Office tells BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “The issue is very much air moving up from the south clashing with very cold and quite stable airt from Scandinavia.

“Sadly Scotland is in the battlefield between these two air masses.”

She adds the weather fronts have been stalling as they move across the country, particularly in eastern Scotland, due to the wind direction.

Ms Nasir says the combination of rain and wind was allowing a “huge amount of water” to continue to fall.

She says overnight gusts of 70mph have been recorded along the Aberdeenshire and Angus coast.

Ms Nasir tells the programme: “That has just added to the horrific situation across these parts.

“It is really the temperature difference that has allowed so much energy to be trained in the system and that has produced so much rain.”

Steven Godden
BBC Scotland News

The rain still falling in Brechin this morning. The wind is competing with the sounds of multiple car alarms going off in the housing estate around me which is without power.

Police have blocked the road leading down to the river which is the source of most concern.

Last night the authorities were still trying to evacuate more than 300 homes in the town at risk.

The peak river levels were predicted to be more than a metre higher than the flood defences could cope with.

Overnight, we’re told, the river has breached as expected. Local residents say the river overwhelmed the flood defences around 4am.

The next river peak is due at 8am

Image source, Getty Images

At 06:00 the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had more than 30 flood warnings , externalin place.

They include four severe flood warnings, 16 flood warnings and 12 flood alerts.

Carol Raeburn, director of the Scottish Flood Forum, a group dedicated to reduce the impact of flooding on communities, urged people to follow the advice of the emergency services.

She told BBC Scotland’s The Nine: “People are taking all sorts of preventative measures to protect their properties, and it’s a natural thing to do.

“But certainly when there’s a risk to life, we suggest you follow the advice form the police and fire service who are making those recommendations and have really good information on what’s happening on the ground.”

With the red weather warning due to last at least until 12:00, here’s the latest headlines from around the country this morning.

• Police confirmed the body of a 57-year-old woman was recovered from a river in Angus yesterday, as Storm Babet wreaked havoc across the north east of Scotland
• Hundreds of people were told to evacuate in Angus as exceptional rainfall breached flood defences. The Met Office says the rainfall may be record-breaking

• The red severe weather alert – which warns of risk to life - was extended to more areas of Scotland including Perth and Kinross, Dundee, Angus and south Aberdeenshire and runs until noon today

• Around 3,300 homes were without power as a result of the storms, according Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
• Travel has been severely hit with police advising against travel in the red alert area and to avoid it in areas covered by amber warnings.
• The Forth Road Bridge remains closed, trains have been cancelled across Scotland, and CalMac’s ferry routes have been badly hit
• Angus Council closed its schools at midday on Thursday and they will remain shut on Friday

The impact of the storm has also been felt right across the UK - with storm damage being felt from Devon to Newcastle and due to continue today

Good morning and welcome to our second day of live coverage of the impact of Storm Babet.

The red weather warning for the north east of Scotland remains active with Angus and Aberdeenshire having borne the brunt of the weather overnight.

We’ll bring you the very latest from around Scotland and the rest of the UK and expert analysis on the impact of Storm Babet.

You can listen to the Good Morning Scotland programme (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hf7) here on this live page, just click on the icon at the top of the page.

If you can’t listen, we’ll summarise the headlines and key points from the programme.