Heavy rain and strong winds sweep across Scotland

Heavy rain and strong winds have caused flooding and transport disruption as they swept across Scotland.

Whitesands in Dumfries flooded for the second time in a week, with water flowing in from the River Nith.

There were 14 Scottish flood warnings in place on Thursday night - 10 in Tayside, three in the Borders and one in Dumfries and Galloway - as rainwater filtered down from the hills.

Met Office rain warnings were still active across most of the country.

In Dumfries, water was creeping into the Whitesands area of the town, reaching businesses who had put down sandbags and flood barriers in front of their doors.

Earlier, about 500 homes lost power in Dumfries and Galloway after lightning struck.

A landslip caused by heavy rain in the Thornhill area closed the rail line between Kilmarnock and Dumfries. Replacement busses are running as workmen try to clear the debris, but disruption is expected until 13:00 on Friday.

Flooding also affected the Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts line. Services were returning to normal but some trains were still affected.

Dumfries and Galloway Council said the River Cree in Newton Stewart, which was flooded earlier this week, was also a concern after it rose by 40cm in an hour.

Elsewhere, Perth and Kinross Council provided 2,000 sand bags to replenish stocks after floods hit the Perthshire village of Comrie, near Crieff, on Monday.

Fire crews have now piled sand bags next to the river bank to prevent further flooding.

Specialist water rescue teams were pumping out drains and monitoring river levels.

They said the river had risen by more than a metre and the evening would be "crucial" as water was flowing down from the hills.

About 100 homes in Comrie were evacuated on Monday when the Water of Ruchill burst its banks.

Rail services were suspended following a landslip near Thornhill

In the Borders, several streets in Galashiels flooded. The council was forced to close roads and provide extra sandbags.

Winds reached 58mph in Stornoway, with predictions that gusts could hit 70mph in some coastal areas later.

The lightning strikes affected power at properties in the Lochans and Leswalt areas of Wigtownshire.

Electricity was restored to most homes by late morning, with the remainder expected to be reconnected by late afternoon.

Sand bags were being laid beside the river at Comrie to try to prevent flooding

Speaking earlier on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, Transport Minister Keith Brown said the weather on Thursday morning had been "slightly better than expected".

But Mr Brown added: "There is a further band of rain expected from Northern Ireland later on.

"People should be prepared and crucially give themselves more time so they can make journeys safely.

"We have some heavy rain and high winds so people have to take extra care."

Marc Becker, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (Sepa) flood unit, said the areas likely to be worst affected were those which had experienced flooding earlier in the week.

He said Dumfries and Galloway, western Tayside, Argyll and Central would be susceptible to further river flooding.