A yellow weather warning for wind remains in place for parts of Scotland this morning as Storm Franklin sweeps across the country.
Parts of the west coast are still facing gusts of strong wintery winds in the wake of the third consecutive storm in seven days while commuters face ongoing travel disruption this morning.
While the yellow weather warning has mostly avoided Scotland, areas in the Borders as well as Strathclyde are still covered by it until 1pm this afternoon.
In the early hours of Monday morning, the Met Office tweeted: “The centre of Storm Franklin is currently moving across Scotland.
"Spells of rain, hail, sleet and snow across the north of the UK. Heavy showers in the south. Very windy for all."
Those travelling this morning faced congestion on one of Scotland’s busiest motorways, the M8, due to surface water and some train services have been cancelled or delayed due to the adverse weather.
While the weather warning is in place winds of up to 75pmh have been forecast with the strongest winds hitting the Hebrides and Argyll, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway and gusts of 80mph are expected on the coasts.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) have issued 18 flood warnings and seven alerts have been issued across the Scottish Borders, Ayrshire, Orkney and the Western Isles.
Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at Sepa, urged people to “stay away from swollen rivers” while teams deploy temporary barriers and pumps on the river.
She said: “We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”
Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said last week marked the first time three named storms have been recorded within seven days since the storm-naming system began in 2015, with Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.
She said there will “definitely be some impact” from Storm Franklin on Monday but it is not expected to be “as severe” as Eunice because the strongest winds will be confined to the coast.
Meanwhile, across the UK Storm Franklin has sparked evacuations in some areas and caused widespread rush-hour travel disruption, with train operators warning customers not to travel amid gale-force winds and flooding.
National Rail told people “do not travel” as it said the first services on most routes were cancelled, while there is a reduced timetable for Monday, alternative travel is unavailable and further disruption is expected.
Environment agencies have issued hundreds of alerts for flooding across the UK, including two rare “severe” warnings where rainfall could also pose a “danger to life” for communities along the River Mersey in Greater Manchester’s East Didsbury and West Didsbury and Northenden.
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