Council response to severe weather

Roads and flood prevention teams from the City of Edinburgh Council have been working through the night dealing with issues caused by last night’s heavy rain. 

The squads will continue to work over the weekend as the rain eases and clear up operations begin. 

There have been reports of flooded roads throughout the city with some closed. Affected areas include the River Almond in Kirkliston and Water of Leith in Stockbridge and Roseburn. 

A SEPA flood warning was received at 6.30pm last night and the Council’s flood response plan was put in place with the gates on phases 1 and 2 of the Water of Leith flood defences being closed. Additional staff were drafted in through the night to help with deploying sandbags to affected areas and to clear any debris being washed up on to gullies and culvert grilles. 

Flood prevention and roads teams will continue to be out across the city this weekend to attend to surface water flooding and any other issues. 

Localised rain is forecast to continue over the weekend but the SEPA flood warning is no longer in force for Edinburgh. 

Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said:

Our roads and flood prevention teams have worked extremely hard throughout the night to help the city cope with the impact of last night’s severe weather. 

There has been some localised flooding and road closures and our flood response plan for the Water of Leith was put into place. 

Our roads teams will continue to work throughout the weekend to attend to any damage resulting from the flooding and clear away any debris. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the Council staff and partner agencies who worked through the night to minimise the impact of the heavy rain on the city.

Published: December 5th 2020