Rest and Be Thankful: Heavy rain forecast forces overnight road closure

A major trunk road through Argyll is due to close overnight as forecasters warn up to 130mm (5in) of rain could fall in parts of north-west Scotland over the weekend.

The A83 Rest and Be Thankful will be shut from 16:00 on Saturday until Sunday afternoon.

The road reopened this week after a landslide led to a five-week closure.

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for heavy and persistent rain in west Scotland over the weekend.

And the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has published 10 regional flood alerts, warning of localised flooding of land and roads as well as some transport disruption.

While parts of England bask in temperatures as high as 25C, forecasters warned that parts of Argyll, the Highlands and the Western Isles will see between 25 and 50mm (1-2in) of rain.

Over higher ground, peak rainfall totals could reach up to 130mm (5in).

Road operator Bear Scotland said it was closing the Rest and Be Thankful because engineers were worried about the impact the heavy rain could have on the hillside.

Traffic will be diverted on to the nearby old military road until 21:00 on Saturday. It will be closed overnight during "the most intense period of rain", meaning traffic will have to follow a 59-mile diversion.

A landslide sent about 10,000 tonnes of debris down the hill when 100mm (4in) of rain fell on the area on 4 August.

Experts spent five weeks repairing the damage and stabilising the hillside before the road reopened under traffic light control on Monday.

Bear Scotland said it had teams on standby over the weekend to deal with issues on the road network, including landslides and fallen trees.

Eddie Ross, the firm's north west representative, said: "The advice from our geotechnical experts is that the heavy rain could have an impact on the material in the steep channel above the road.

"This is the first significant rain event since the landslide in August so we are taking a safety-first approach and will carefully monitor the hillside during the weather event."

He added: "We have arranged for patrols of the network to be completed at affected areas through the warning period and we also have our incident response teams available to deal with any flooding issues across the north west network, as well as gully tankers and pumps on standby to help ensure trunk roads are kept clear."

Meanwhile Sepa's duty manager Mark Franklin warned that rising river levels and surface water could lead to localised flooding in the north, west and central Highlands.

He added: "Parts of Argyll, Easter Ross and Lochaber could experience flooding affecting communities and disruption to infrastructure due to the heaviest rain - and people living, working and travelling in these areas are advised to ensure they have signed up to Floodline and are prepared to take action to protect property."