Rain battered down on Scotland’s capital today and caused chaos for both residents and visitors to the city.
The Met Office had put a yellow weather warning in place and warned that heavy rainfall could lead to rising water levels that could endanger health and lives.
Police Scotland confirmed that a body was recovered from the Water of Leith between Saughton and Murrayfield at around 2.40pm on December 30.
READ MORE: Body recovered from Edinburgh's Water of Leith by emergency services
Several rail services were cancelled coming into and leaving the capital, leaving hundreds stranded just a day before Hogmanay, and ScotRail announced that flooding on tracks had meant that lines had to be closed between Bathgate and Livingston in West Lothian.
The Edinburgh City Bypass was also partially closed earlier this afternoon after elements of the busy road became inundated with water.
Residents of Edinburgh contacted Edinburgh Live to show how the heavy rainfall was swelling rivers and flooding roads as well as pathways.
Jim Verth managed to film the Water of Leith surging at Saughton Park, showing how the rising level waters were threatening to overcome the flood defences in place.
He said: “It is the second time that this has happened in the last two years as the last time this occurred was in 2020.
“Perhaps this is a sign of changing weather with much heavier rainfall making the rivers struggle to cope with volume.
“Although it is great to see the small Hutchinson park do its job as it is a floodplain stopping a much more serious case of flooding impacting nearby residents.”
Several other Saughton locals also got in touch to show their footage of the Water of Leith rising.
Stockbridge resident David Glass captured video of the pathway along the nature trail on the Water of Leith in his community being consumed by the rising water levels at around 1:00pm this afternoon.
In the video he said: “So we are standing by the lovely walkway at the Water of Leith. The Water of Leith has officially burst its bank and flood defences have been put in place. It is pretty frightening really.”
John Campbell was also able to film the River Almond around Cramond rising above its normal level and the water thundering down stream.
In the video, water can be seen rising high into the trees that sit on the bank of the river that is a popular spot for local dog walkers.
And it was not just Edinburgh that was impacted with Maggie Anderson capturing pictures of the River North Esk looking particularly forceful with rising water levels.
She said: “It was quite scary and reminded me of the people that fell in the falls and drowned there in the past.”
The River Esk in Musselburgh was also seen to be impacted by the heavy rainfall with a large log being snapped tumbling down stream by Andrzej Sagalara.
But communities were also impacted with Ahmed El-Rayis showing parts of Gilmour and Suffolk Road flooded. Pako Mera also snapped the playing fields at Cameron Toll underwater - signalling that amateur sport may take a while to get up and running in the New Year.
The Council said that it has an emergency out of hours phoneline which residents can continue to use over the festive period to report emergency issues, including flooding.
But add that in many instances, responsibility will also lie with Scottish Water.
Their latest info on emergency / out of hours contact numbers over NY can be found here: Changes to services over Christmas and New Year – The City of Edinburgh Council
Their flooding advice webpage here: Flooding – The City of Edinburgh Council
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