Torrential rain causes flooding

Vehicles have been caught in rising flood water in Greenock

Torrential rain has been causing problems in many parts of Scotland.

Four people were rescued from vehicles engulfed in "waist high" flood water in Greenock. An elderly disabled man was taken to hospital for treatment.

Police in the south of Scotland warned motorists to take care in "horrendous driving conditions" across the region.

Meanwhile, Central Scotland Police said torrential rain had caused many of the area's main routes to become flooded or blocked with stranded cars.

Every road in and out of Falkirk was blocked and Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service said they were dealing with numerous calls regarding flooding in the Falkirk, Denny and Larbert areas.

The gentleman was extremely upset and was quite concerned that he wasn't going to be able to get out Richard Duncan Strathclyde Fire and Rescue

The vehicles in Greenock were caught in rising flood water in the town's Cumberland Road and Westmorland Road at about 1420 GMT.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said the incidents had now been dealt with, but the emergency services would remain at the scene for some time.

Richard Duncan, group commander with Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, said the disabled man who had been rescued had been in fear for his life.

"We were called out to a flooding incident where we had reports of a gentleman trapped in his vehicle up to waist height," he said.

"The gentleman was extremely upset and was quite concerned that he wasn't going to be able to get out.

"We managed to calm him down and, using specialist personal protection equipment, manhandle him out of the vehicle and hand him over to the Scottish Ambulance Service."

Mr Duncan said fire crews had dealt with around nine incidents in Paisley, Port Glasgow, Greenock and Houston in which people had to be rescued from their vehicles by boat.

Rain had subsided

This included a woman and her young child who were stuck in a car for two hours as water levels began to rise.

In the Inverclyde area, firefighters were called to 19 reports of problems caused by flooding.

Mr Duncan said no-one had been seriously injured as a result of the flooding and they had no reports of flooding in any properties.

He added that the rain had subsided and they were not anticipating any major problems overnight.

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said the A76 road was closed between Kelloholm and Kirkconnel because of the flooding and there were also problems on the A74.