Argyll and Bute: Flood-hit wedding saved by helpful farmer

A wedding in Argyll was able to go ahead despite widespread flooding over the weekend thanks to a determined celebrant and a helpful farmer.

While the florist, caterer and baker could not bypass the floods to make it to Robert Connelly and Annalisa Falanga's wedding at Kilmartin Castle on Saturday - the celebrant hitched a ride on a tractor.

"She basically was so determined that her neighbour who's a farmer had a tractor and brought her up," Robert said.

"We actually just seen the tractor coming up to the gate and we were like 'oh there's a tractor' and then the celebrant was at the door."

"I was extremely pleased. At that point I knew it was going to happen. I had a big sigh of relief," Annalisa added.

Authorities had warned of "danger to life" as almost a month's worth of rain fell in just 24 hours in Scotland over the weekend.

The couple had arrived in Kilmartin on Friday and said they were aware of the weather warnings but did not expect it to be so bad.

"Unfortunately a lot of other people coming from different parts of Scotland never managed to make it," Annalisa said.

"The bakery that provided the cake was coming from Oban and they tried their best but they couldn't make it. The florist was the same."

The caterer who was coming from Glasgow also could not make it past the floods and was forced to turn back.

"The meal was two packets of sausages, we managed to cook them off with some potatoes - so that was our wedding dinner," Robert said.

But the couple were not caught completely off guard. Annalisa had bought herself a pair of white wellington boots and an umbrella to match.

"Knowing Scotland and the unpredictability of the weather I thought I'll just buy wellies just in case," she said.

"Then I bought a brolly from Amazon which said it was waterproof and was lace and was really small and I just thought yeah that's the cherry on top."

Robert and Annalisa said they were both glad the wedding was able to go ahead despite the challenges.

"We're very happy it came together and it was kind of unique to say the least," Robert said.

"Certainly a day to remember for a lot of people," Annalisa added.

"It was very intimate and it was really nice and I think there was a great sense of community because everybody came together to sort the few bits that had gone wrong, but it actually made it more special," she said.