Nicola Sturgeon: Storm Frank brought most severe flooding in living memory

Large parts of the country were battered by Wednesday's heavy rain and gale-force winds, which prompted the most severe "danger to life" flood warnings to be issued for a time.

Dozens of homes were evacuated as flood waters rose, forcing residents to spend the night in temporary accommodation.

In Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, a rest centre was set up at Douglas Ewart High School for residents forced to flee their homes.

Heavy rain continued to pour as Nicola Sturgeon visited shops and businesses devastated by the floods in the town.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The impact is devastating for people, it's absolutely heart-breaking.

"This is probably the worst flooding episode that Newton Stewart and much of this region has experienced, for some people, in living memory.

"On the other side of that, the response has been heroic.

"Emergency services, volunteers, members of the public, the council, working together. There's a sense here of real community spirit.

"But there's a long recovery road ahead for some of the people I've been speaking to.

"One of the reasons I'm here is so that I can see it for myself, so we can make sure we are doing everything we reasonably can to help people with that recovery."

In the town's Victoria Street, local business owners were sweeping out the remains of the water from their shops.

Workers at a home decorating store were throwing damaged wall paper and blinds into a skip.

Another skip was piled with white goods such as cookers that did not survive the flooding.

Sandbags remained outside shops as fire and rescue services pumped away water and helped residents with the clear-up.

Locals said it was the worst flooding in memory.

The First Minister added: "We are doing as much as we can to make sure we are as prepared as we can be for flooding.

"You can't prepare for every eventuality and you can't stop, in every sense, the impact of flooding.

"But over recent years there's been significant investment, for example in the flood prediction system, so that communities are getting information as early as possible.

"There's been good joint working between different agencies in some of these areas.

"We're also investing every year in improving flood protection - all of these things are important.

"I think it's very important we also learn lessons when these things happen so that we can continue to improve, and that's why I'm here today."

As the clean-up operations continue across the country, a number of flood warnings and flood alerts remain in place throughout Scotland - but many others have been lifted.

Police said the body of a kayaker missing during the storms had been recovered from the River Findhorn in Moray.

Emergency services were called to the river shortly after 12.30pm on Wednesday after the man got into difficulties on the water.

Police Scotland confirmed that the body of the man, who was in his 50s, was recovered from the river at around 9am on Thursday.

At the storm's height, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had issued a "severe flooding - danger to life" warning for Whitesands in Dumfries and Galloway and for the River Tweed in Peebles.

Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders bore the brunt of the severe weather, which caused disruption to road, rail and ferry services.

Twelve people, including two children, were rescued from a bus after it was stranded in flood water in Dailly, South Ayrshire.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was involved in a "major multi-agency response" after the River Tweed burst its banks, flooding large areas of Peebles.

In Aberdeen, coastguard rescue teams were called to help evacuate a care home which was flooded.

Residents were also removed from the Riverside Drive area in the city and moved to Norwood Hall, which was opened as a rest centre.

In Aberdeenshire, homes in Anderson Road, Deebank Road and Albert Road in Ballater were evacuated and a rest centre was set up at the Victoria Barracks and nearby Aboyne Academy.

The rain and gales left thousands of homes without power, with faults caused by wind damage and trees or other debris on the lines.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (Shepd) said more than 100 of its engineers and technical staff are working in Ballater to restore power supplies.

Engineers reconnected supplies to properties overnight, where it was safe to do so, but the severe flooding that hit the village washed away some of the electricity poles.

By Thursday lunchtime, 200 properties were still without power in Ballater, while another 250 were affected in the surrounding areas.

Hundreds of customers were also still off supply in areas such as Archiestown, near Aberlour in Moray, and Meikleour in Perthshire.