FRIGHTFUL February shows no sign of letting up as the whole of Scotland is covered by weather warning over hurricane force winds, heavy rain and even snow on Saturday.

All of Scotland is expected to experience gales reaching 50-60mph, with hurricane force gusts of up to 75mph in exposed parts of the north and west.

The Met Office, in the wind warning that runs across Scotland to 10pm on Saturday, say the gusts may bring some travel disruption with delays to road, rail and ferry transport likely.

Some short term loss of power and other services is possible and the flooding of "a few" homes and businesses is likely, the forecasters say.

And on some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves.

A separate warning for an wide area north of the central belt, says that this will come with up to 10cm (four inches) of snow, with a danger from ice to follow.

The Herald:

Vehicles drive through a large puddle on St Andrew’s Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow. Photograph by Colin Mearns

Neil Armstrong, chief forecaster at the Met Office said:“Another deep low-pressure system early next week provides a continuation of the extremely unsettled period the UK has endured.

“With further rain in the forecast over the coming days, additional rainfall could create further challenges as river catchments are more likely to respond to extra rainfall more quickly.

“Flooding, especially in areas already heavily affected, remains a possibility.”

At 8pm on Friday night, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency had 12 flood alerts in place and 33 – more serious – flood warnings. These cover parts of west central Scotland, Tayside, Central, Easter Ross and Great Glen, Orkney, Findhorn, Nairn, Moray and Speyside.

SEPA warned that that rivers were already high in many areas and will get higher with a new band of rain, while the ground is saturated with standing water on many fields and roads.

A team of expert staff from SEPA will be closely monitor river levels and rainfall throughout the weekend and issue further flood warning when required.

"While we expect to see flooding of low-lying land and roads and travel disruption is likely in known trouble spots, the rivers are not expected to cause widespread flooding," the agency said.

At Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, SEPA warned that the police dog compound in the park’s grounds could be inundated with flood water from the nearby White Cart Water.

Parts of Scotland have already been hit by heavy flooding with several vehicles, including an ambulance, becoming stranded in Renfrewshire.

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Police outside Marks & Spencer on Argyle Street, Glasgow where earlier on Friday part of a M&S sign fell off injuring two pedestrians.

In Paisley, Renfrewshire, an ambulance became marooned in flood water along with a number of cars on the A761.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said crew were returning from a training exercise at a local hospital, with no patients on board.

She added:”It seems they had a bit of bad luck with the weather.”

Severe weather on Friday cancelled all sailings on a number of west coast Cal Mac crossings, including Ardrossan to Brodick on Arran, a route which remains completely closed on Saturday as well.

There were further cancellations between Oban and Castlebay on Barra, Tarbert to Portavadie and Mallaig to Lochboisdale.

Elsewhere Scotrail confirmed the line between Stirling and Perth has been closed for safety reasons after water levels breached a marker on the Mill O'Keir viaduct.

And on the roads flooding forced the closure of the north bound M876 at junction 2 Broomage in central Scotland.

Visitors to Edinburgh Castle were turned away due to atrocious weather conditions though managers said they would keep the situation under review.

Last night’s SPL televised tie between St Mirren and Heart of Midlothian was called off due to a waterlogged pitch in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

The Herald:

SEPA flood map.

In Glasgow, two people taken to the city’s Royal Infirmary after a shop sign was blown off in Argyle Street.

Two senior football matches are subject to pitch inspections this morning (Sat). These are at Partick Thistle for the game with Dunfermline Athletic in the Championship and in League 2, the tie between Stirling Albion and Stenhousemuir.

All Macron Scottish Junior Cup games have been postponed due to "the extreme weather conditions we are going through at the moment", And the bleak weather is likely to continue into next week - with the Met Office warning that more strong winds are being anticipated on Monday.

Almost continuous wet weather for the past fortnight has seen England receive 141% of its average February rainfall so far, the agency said as it warned the deluges are set to continue into next week.

NOTE: According to the Beaufort Scale as defined by the Royal Meterorlogical Society, hurricane force is classed as wind speeds that are greater than or equal to 73mph.