Back to News

SEPA continues to monitor river levels in north east as more rain forecast

David Scott, SEPA’s Flood Duty Manager, said:

“Following last week’s severe weather event, people in communities in the north east are still recovering from extensive river and surface water flooding impacts, and with more rain forecast for the coming days we understand that people are concerned.

“The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for rain between today (Thursday) and Saturday. River levels are expected to rise overnight on Thursday and remain high during the weekend, but we are not looking at levels as high as experienced during Storm Babet. SEPA has issued regional Flood Alerts for Aberdeenshire & Aberdeen City, Dundee & Angus and Tayside due to the residual impacts in these areas.

“Expert staff in SEPA’s flooding team continue to work round the clock to check forecasts and models, update Regional Flood Alerts, issue Local Flood Warnings and ensure that local authorities and other partners have the latest information. Rivers are being monitored 24/7 for potential impacts and SEPA will issue local Flood Warnings as required.

“Although widespread significant flooding is not currently expected, many catchments remain saturated following the recent heavy rainfall events – and further rain could affect areas where flood waters remain. We encourage people to continue to keep up to date by following weather information from the Met Office and flooding advice from SEPA. 

“Forecasts show accumulations over the three days will widely be around 20 to 30 mm with 50 to 70 mm likely to fall over higher ground. There is a lower probability of 80-100 mm in a few locations. For context, during the weekend of Storm Babet, the north east experienced 200-250 mm of rainfall in 48 hours.

“We advise people to sign up to Floodline to receive free updates for where they live, or travel through, directly to their phone. People can also check our flood updates for all the latest information and the three-day Scottish Flood Forecast to see what conditions are expected further ahead.”

Be prepared 

• Check the Scottish Flood Forecast - developed in partnership with the Met Office it provides the earliest indication possible of when and where flooding is expected over the next three days, and whether the source is from rivers, surface water or the sea.
• Sign up to Floodline and receive free flood messages letting you know when the area where you live, work or travel through is at risk of flooding. 
• Create a flood plan which includes knowing how to shut off your gas, water and electricity supplies.
• Consider installing flood protection at your home. 

Stay safe 

• Follow the advice of emergency responders, including evacuation.
• Don’t walk through flood water – 15cm of fast flowing water could be enough to knock you off your feet and hazards can be hidden under the water.
• Drive with care, and do not travel through deep fast flowing water. It only takes 30cm of fast flowing water to move an average family sized car.   
• If you’re walking beside rivers be extra careful of wet footpaths and small watercourses.
• Consider deploying flooding protection products if required.

Stay informed

• Follow @SEPAFlood on X for the latest flooding information. 
• Check the flood alerts and flood warnings for your area.
• Check your transport routes and road conditions.
• Ready Scotland shares advice on preparing for severe weather.

What’s the difference between a flood alert and a flood warning?

• We use forecast weather information provided by the Met Office combined with our own observation of rainfall and river levels and advanced hydrological modelling to provide advance warning of flooding.
• Regional Flood Alerts are early advice that flooding is possible across a wider geographical area. The purpose of the Alerts is to make people aware of the risk of flooding and be prepared. We normally issue them 12 to 24 hours in advance of the possibility of flooding.   
• Flood Warnings are more locally specific and are issued for areas where we have gauges on rivers to measure the exact river height. They are issued at shorter notice when we are more certain that a specific area will be affected.