Flood recovery underway

A clean-up operation is underway following heavy rainfall and flooding across parts of Scotland over the weekend.

Several severe weather warnings were issued for the North East by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on Friday, with a month’s rain falling in some areas and record high river flows.

These were downgraded on Saturday as the situation improved; however, several flood warnings remain with a yellow weather warning in place for a large part of eastern Scotland.

People who lost power during the flooding events have had it restored and a normal rail service has resumed. Local resilience partners on the ground continue to support communities.

Over the weekend, Network Rail has continued to check routes to get them back to normal. Advice remains to check with your operator to see if your service is affected. Some roads remain impacted by flooding and drivers should pay attention to the conditions at hand.  Traffic Scotland provides regular updates on the trunk road network and Police Scotland continues to warn of possible disruption.

The Scottish Government’s resilience arrangements remain activated to ensure appropriate measures are in place.

Justice Secretary and lead Minister for resilience Keith Brown said: “This was a serious flood event similar in magnitude to 2016’s Storm Frank, causing significant disruption in some parts of the country.

“As the clean-up gets underway, I want to thank local resilience partners and the emergency services for their ongoing work to ensure those communities most affected are kept safe, and urgently get the support they need.

“We still have flood warnings in place so please take extra care if you are out and about and do not attempt to walk or drive through flood water. The conditions continue to cause some disruption to the transport network – so it’s important people plan their journeys before they set off – particularly if they are looking to use the trunk roads or travel by rail.

“We remain in close contact with resilience partners, local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed.”

Vincent Fitzsimons, SEPA’s Flood Duty Manager, said: “Across Sunday and into next week we’ll see intermittent showers as the clear-up continues.  Recent days have shown real resilience from families, communities, businesses and partners across the country with how they responded. 

“Localised surface water flooding of land and transport routes remains possible.  Take extra care, sign up for SEPA’s free Floodline service and don’t attempt to walk or drive through flood water.”

SEPA issues flood alerts and warnings for Scotland. View the latest updates on its website.

Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online.

Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.

Council to extend ‘temporary’ Spaces for People scheme

Controversial measures to support walking, wheeling and cycling extended on a trial basis

Temporary measures introduced to help people to safely walk, wheel or cycle during the Covid pandemic are being retained on a trial basis FOR A FURTHER 18 MONTHS.

Today, (Monday (21 November) Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) will come into force for Travelling Safely (formerly Spaces for People) schemes across the city, including segregated cycle routes, road closures and traffic restrictions.

The trial will ‘let us test out the changes to get a better idea of how they are working as the journeys people make around the city settle into new patterns following the pandemic’. During the first six months of the trial a statutory consultation will allow people to make comments or objections relating to the ETROs.

The Transport and Environment Committee agreed to implement the ETROs in September. Extending the lifespan of the measures aims to foster safer, easier travel by walking, wheeling and cycling, supporting healthy and sustainable modes of transport, improved road safety and the Council’s target for Edinburgh to be net zero by 2030.

Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: By extending the lifespan of these schemes we’ll have the chance to test and trial the measures to see how they’re working as life in the city settles to a new normality following the pandemic.

“I know the changes have divided opinion but there is no doubt that providing safe spaces to walk, wheel and cycle can significantly benefit the health, wellbeing and pockets of people in the city, not to mention positively impacting the environment by supporting sustainable travel and better connecting people to public transport.

“During the next six months anyone can comment on specific schemes, which will help inform future plans, so I would encourage anyone with an interest to take part in the statutory consultation. The consultation follows a legally defined process, and I will ensure that any material concerns are addressed in a transparent manner.”

Feedback received during the six-month consultation will be reported to the appropriate committee within the 18-month trial period to decide on whether the schemes will be made permanent, removed or modified.

The impacts of the measures will be monitored during the experimental period. This monitoring, along with consideration of comments on the schemes, will help determine recommendations on whether some or all measures should be retained.

For schemes that are retained permanent infrastructure to suit a longer-term road layout will be considered. Funding for any permanent infrastructure would be discussed at an appropriate future committee.

Existing School schemes are currently being assessed under the citywide School Travel Plan Review and are not included in the Traveling Safely programme.

Share your comments, messages of support or objections to individual schemes online from today (Monday21 November).

The city council introduced ‘Spaces for People’ measures during 2020 and 2021 to give people more space on our pavements and roads during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The council says these changes ‘created space for everyone and made it easier and safer for people to move around when

  • walking
  • cycling
  • using a wheelchair or other mobility aid
  • pushing prams or buggies.’

All schemes were funded by over £5 million from Sustrans, which was awarded to make temporary changes to Edinburgh’s streets.