Sad to see flooding occurring in Scotland following the torrential rain over the last few days.

BBC flood photos:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-15943842

Abington Primary School pupils rescued from flooding:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15945986

Drivers stuck after rain causes flooding in Scotland:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-15922080

Here’s hoping no one has had their home flooded.

A flood alert is in force for Fife:

SEPA has issued a FLOOD ALERT for Fife.

Due to a continued period of prolonged and heavy rain which is forecast to continue throughout Wednesday, there is a risk of localised flooding, particularly from small watercourses, in the western areas of the region. The east of the region is not expected to experience the same degree of risk.
Intense periods of rainfall could result in some localised surface water issues in the west of the region, particularly in urban areas and on impermeable surfaces, such as the road network. Standing surface water may occur in these and other low lying areas.
SEPA will monitor the situation closely and provide further information when appropriate.

Remain vigilant and remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. Advice and information is available through Floodline on 0845 9881188. This FLOOD ALERT UPDATE is now in force until further notice. If you haven’t already signed up to receive free flood messages, please call Floodline or register online at sepa.org.uk/floodingsignup.

A Yellow (Be Aware) Severe Weather Warning has been issued by the Met Office:

Issued at – 26 Aug 2011, 12:42
Valid from – 26 Aug 2011, 12:00
Valid to – 26 Aug 2011, 21:00

Slow moving heavy rain, perhaps accompanied by thunder in places, will continue into this evening. The public should be aware that localised flooding from surface water is possible.

SEPA has issued a Flood Alert for Fife:

A FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife

from 26-08-2011 12:30 to 27-08-2011 12:30

A FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife.

Outbreaks of heavy rain, with some intense localised downpours, are expected to affect the area throughout Friday. The intensity of the rain may cause some surface water flooding, particularly in built up areas or on low lying roads. Flooding to low lying areas from small watercourses is also possible. Impacts are not expected to be widespread, but flooding may occur in localised areas where the rainfall is most intense. SEPA will continue to monitor the situation and further updates will be provided when new information becomes available. Conditions are expected to ease during Saturday.

A concerned citizen made a call to the SEPA Floodline service to inquire about the Freuchie area, the call handler recommended they visit the FFAG website for the most up to date information.

A fabulous endorsement that recognising all our hard work.

The Met Office has upgraded their severe weather warning for Fife to Amber:

Rain, already across the area, will continue through Wednesday and Wednesday night, turning occasionally heavy through this period. On Thursday it will start to ease, but only slowly. The public should be prepared for disruption due to flooding from either standing water or swollen rivers and streams.

The weather must been turning out worse than expected.

SEPA has issued a flood alert for Fife:

A FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife.

Persistent and heavy rain is forecast to come through on Wednesday and continue through until mid Thursday .

Catchments are already partially saturated and this rain is expected to cause flooding, particularly in low lying and urban areas and from small watercourses. There is potential for greater impacts later today and the flood alert will be updated as more information becomes available.

UPDATE
This flood alert is over.

Scary rain is heading our way by Wednesday, potentially lasting into next week.

Weather forecast data for Freuchie from the Norwegian Weather Service

Fingers crossed the weathermen have it wrong.

The cumulative result of the rainfall this week past and the forecast rainfall, if repeated across Scotland, will undoubtedly and sadly result in flooding throughout Scotland.  Our experience of past flood events in Freuchie suggests these daily rainfall totals will see watercourse levels rising to levels where we will be closely monitoring the Freuchie and Pittilock Burns.

Be prepared and keep an eye on the FFAG web resources for information as the weather patterns evolve over the coming days.

Worth pointing out SEPA launched a range of new flood symbols earlier this year to make it easier to understand the likelihood of flooding. Big improvement over the old symbols.

SEPA has issued a flood alert for Fife:

An updated FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife.

A spell of heavy and possibly thundery rain is expected across much of the region through Saturday and into Sunday. The rain is expected to start during the morning and give possible totals of between 25 and 35mm with higher totals expected over more eastern and coastal parts of Fife.
River levels across the region are currently low. However, rivers and smaller watercourses in the areas that are affected by the heaviest of the rain over the weekend will rise, which may result in some minor disruption.
There may be localised flooding issues in towns and communities across the region, with surface water and possible road flooding causing some disruption. The Flood Alert will be updated as further information is known.

Remain vigilant and remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. Advice and information is available through Floodline on 0845 9881188. This FLOOD ALERT UPDATE is now in force until further notice.

The Met Office has also issued an AMBER severe weather warning:

Rain will become persistent and often heavy across Southeast Scotland during the afternoon, spreading north into the rest of the East this evening and tonight. The rain will last through much of Sunday. Accumulations of 25 to 35mm are expected widely, with 60mm locally and a small risk of localised totals of 75 to 100mm in the Southeast.

Time to dust down your flood protection products ready to deploy just in case the rainfall is the worst case.

Watercourse levels in Freuchie have risen substantially today due to the continued moderate rainfall and heavily saturated ground.

Image capture: Freuchie Mill culvert at 3:10pm

Residents should be prepared with their flood defences if the rain continues to fall at the same rate for the remainder of today.

UPDATE:
The rain let up before flooding became an issue.

It has been a costly exercise to develop the services offered by allayit on this websites. Within the next few weeks the weather station and webcamera services currently offered for free will be switched to a subscription service – pricing information and T&Cs will be revealed soon.

The services will also be switched over to a dedicated website that will provide the infrastructure to bring the next generation of services online quickly. It will also allow us to monitor and log account activity to detect and deal with any account abuse.

Publishing of our weather data will also cease on Weather Underground and PWS Weather. The FFAGWSFM Twitter account will be switched to private and only subscribers will be able to follow the hourly weather station updates. Republishing of our weather data and webcamera images will be strictly prohibited and legally enforced.

These charges are being introduced to help pay for the costly infrastructure already installed and to provide funds to further enhance and develop the flood monitoring and warning system. It is also necessary to find a funding mechanism to pay for the energy costs associated with keeping all the computers and electronics running 24×7. The last few years have revealed there is an on-going need for maintenance and routine replacement of equipment which has to operate in an extreme environment.

There will be concessionary rates for people on low income. Free / low cost accounts will also be provided to our councillors, the flood professionals at Fife Council and named staff at Kingdom Housing Association. There will certainly be other people who will qualify for low cost or free accounts.  

Please indicate your interest to maintain access to these services by either talking to John Thomson at No 15 Freuchie Mill or by sending a message using the Contact Us form.

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