Roof blown off Edinburgh tenement amid wind and rain warnings

Parts of a roof came off a building on Iona Street in Edinburgh

Parts of a roof came off a tenement in Edinburgh as Met Office weather warnings kicked in across the country.

Emergency services were called out to the incident on the city's Iona Street at about 13:00.

There were no reports of any injuries but firefighters remained on the scene to make the area safe.

Weather warnings are in place across much of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday for both heavy rain and strong winds.

Firefighters remained at the scene to make the area safe

Central and southern Scotland are covered by an amber alert from 12:00 on Tuesday to 06:00 on Wednesday.

Bridges and roads across the country have been affected with drivers urged to use caution on many routes.

As well as the amber warning for rain, yellow alerts for both wind and rain are in place for many areas.

The Met Office forecast up to 80mm (3in) of rain for some places, bringing the potential for disruption.

The worst of the weather was expected to affect parts of Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire.

Many routes across the country were affected with the Old Military Road at Rest and Be Thankful shut throughout Tuesday due to the conditions.

The Forth Road Bridge was also shut to double decker buses as winds gusted at more than 60mph while the Tay Road Bridge was open to cars only.

The Scottish Championship football match between Dundee and Ayr United also fell victim to the weather.

In the Borders, the council's emergency planning officer Jim Fraser asked people in western and central parts of the region to be "extra vigilant".

"Many of the areas affected by the bad weather on Friday and the weekend are expected to see even more heavy rain which will fall on already saturated ground," he said.

"We also expect some of our rivers to rise quickly as the rain falls. Therefore we could see flooding to roads and properties."

Strong winds and heavy rain were forecast across much of the country

Janine Hensman, duty flooding manager at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), said river levels remained high after wet weather at the weekend and would rise again.

Regular flood alert and warning updates are available via its website.

The heavy rainfall comes after flooding caused travel disruption across the UK over the weekend, including in Perth and Kinross where roads near the River Isla were closed.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said Covid restrictions meant people should only be leaving home for an "essential purpose".

He said anyone who did have to travel should make sure they planned their journey before they set off.

Police Scotland encouraged people to check the Met Office, Traffic Scotland and Sepa websites for information.