Storm Dennis: Scottish weather warning upgrades to amber with 'danger to life'

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected to blast the country for the remainder of this week as storm Dennis hits.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for parts of Scotland where severe flooding is likely causing 'danger to life.'

Areas affected include Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders where "very heavy rain" is expected to fall.

Warnings are also in place for strong winds and rain across most of Scotland including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and most of the West Coast.

Power cuts and loss of other services to homes and businesses is likely during these stormy weather conditions.

The amber warning is in place from midday tomorrow until midnight for southern Scotland with yellow warnings for wind and rain across the rest of the country are in place from tomorrow through to Monday.

A Met Office spokeswoman said: "Spells of heavy and prolonged rain are expected to affect southern Scotland during Saturday, particularly through the afternoon. Around 15-25 mm of rain will fall widely with 30-40 mm possible, this will combine with snow melt exacerbating the impacts.

"There's a potential for very strong winds to develop in association with Storm Dennis.

"The location and strength of the strongest winds is uncertain at this stage, but there is a small chance that winds will gust up to 70 mph for a time.

"More typically winds will gusts to 50 mph at times. The strongest winds could also coincide with the Monday morning peak travel period."

Several fatalities were recorded during storm Ciara including a 77-year-old man from Clydebank who died after falling and banging his head during icy weather.