Flooded river searched for ‘person in water’ after extreme weather hits UK

The River Don has flooded after intense rainfall hit north east Scotland (Picture: Twitter/@Fyrishsunset)

A search is under way over fears a person has been swept away by a swollen river.

Police are at the River Don in Aberdeenshire after they received a report of a ‘person in the water’.

Parts of Scotland and the North East of England have been battered by heavy rain and strong winds throughout the day.

Weather warnings remain in place and several communities risk being inundated by rising waters.

Shelters have been opened in some parts of Aberdeenshire after flood warnings were escalated to severe.

Aberdeenshire Council warned that river levels won’t peak until later and sandbags have been distributed around the region to protect homes.

A spokesperson for Aberdeen Coastguard told AberdeenLive that a ‘police lead’ search was ongoing in the area.

A lorry negotiates flooding on the A921 road between Dalgety Bay and Aberdour (Picture: Getty)

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘Emergency services are currently in attendance at the River Don, near Monymusk, following a report of concern for a person in the water, which was received around 3.05pm on Friday, 18 November, 2022.’

Power cuts are affecting Inverurie, Kintore, Stonehaven, Portlethen and Hatton of Fintray among other locations, with reports of broadband internet being down.

The Met Office has said 140 millimetres of rain had fallen in the town of Charr, Aberdeenshire, overnight.

Vincent Fitzsimons, flood duty manager for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), said: ‘Heavy and persistent rain overnight has led to significant increases in river levels across the east of Scotland.

The Met Office says a month’s worth of rain has fallen on some parts of Scotland in a single day (Picture: UkNewsinPictures)

‘We have seen almost a month’s worth of rain in some parts already this week and we are expecting around the same again over the course of Friday and Saturday in parts of north east Scotland.

‘The highest risk is to riverside communities in parts of Aberdeenshire and Angus, with Severe Flood Warnings already issued.’

On Friday evening, justice secretary and lead minister for resilience, Keith Brown, chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience committee.

He urged members of the public to ‘take extra care’ if they are out and about and not to attempt to walk or drive through flood water.

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