Fresh weekend weather warnings for Scotland

Travellers in Scotland have been given a fresh warning that difficult weather conditions could continue for much of the weekend.

The Met Office also issued a yellow warning for heavy showers and thunderstorms continuing until Sunday.

Fifteen flood alerts have been put in place by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Much of Scotland was already on alert as heavy rain lashed large parts of the country.

Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: "This low-pressure system will bring challenging conditions, including unseasonably strong winds and heavy rain, from the west during Friday and Saturday.

"Summer storms - compared with those in autumn and winter - always have the potential to create additional impacts because more people are likely to be outdoors, especially by the coast.

"Additionally, with trees in full leaf they are more vulnerable to being brought down by strong winds."

One of the events affected by weather conditions was the Women's Tour of Scotland.

Organisers of the cycling race, taking place for the first time, said the first stage - from Dundee to Dunfermline - had been abandoned due to "extreme weather conditions".

Stage two - still scheduled for Saturday - is from Glasgow to Perth.

Surface water caused difficulties for motorists on Friday and ferries were disrupted by high winds.

Rail services between Fort William and Mallaig have been replaced by buses after a steam train hit a tree.

And trains through Bishopton in Renfrewshire were cancelled for the remainder of the day after a tree fell on overhead wires at about 09:15.

The loss of power to the overhead lines left about 200 passengers stranded on three trains in the area for about two hours.

A "rescue train" was brought in to remove those on board and they disembarked at Bishopton at 11:30.

ScotRail said engineers were working to repair the "significant damage" affecting services between Glasgow Central and Gourock/Wemyss Bay.

The disruption was expected to last into the weekend as the rail firm said the repair work would be completed by midday on Saturday.

"We're sorry to customers who've been affected by this, and share their frustrations," a spokesman added.

"To keep people moving, we're operating a shuttle service between Glasgow and Paisley, and customers can use their train tickets on selected local buses."

ScotRail said on Friday that services between Dunblane - Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street were running as normal after major disruption on Thursday.

However, disruption to trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Crianlarich / Oban is expected until the end of Monday and the Highland Sleeper will not run between Edinburgh and Fort William, after the line was damaged by heavy rain.

The line between Ardlui and Crainlarich will not reopen until 22 August, Network Rail said.

In Dumfries and Galloway a driver had a lucky escape after a tree fell on a car near Castle Douglas.

Police said the motorist had walked away uninjured but a number of trees were down across the region.

Transport Scotland said the heavy rain means saturated ground and areas already hit by flooding may be affected again.

A spokesman said: "This will cause challenging conditions for drivers and commuters, and we would again urge the public to check before they travel, follow police advice, and to drive to the conditions, where routes are passable.

"Planning is under way to prepare for the continued heavy rainfall to allow for early interventions, such as having pumps ready and available in an effort to avoid further closures at known sites. However, the sheer volume of rain does make this challenging."