Residents of hundreds of homes have been urged to evacuate in one of the areas worst hit by Storm Babet as thousands more were left without power and facing flooding from “unprecedented” amounts of rain.
The second named storm of the season sparked warnings of major flooding, landslides and the prospect of record rainfall as it swept across Scotland before spreading into northern and eastern England later.
The Met Office has warned some communities could be cut off for several days by severe flooding, while The British Geological Survey has warned the storm could also cause landslides in Scotland.
Angus Council, responsible for a large area in the east of Scotland north of Dundee, said residents in 335 homes in Brechin and a further 87 homes in Tannadice and Finavon will be asked to evacuate due to risk of severe flooding.
Three rest centres that have been set up in the area, with people urged to take their own sleeping bags, pillows and blankets.
But one resident said he would stay put while others were pictured building their own flood defences with sandbags.
John Stewart, 82, of Brechin, told the PA news agency he will not be leaving his home should the local authorities attempt to evacuate him.
Mr Stewart, who previously had a wall built around his garden to protect his home, said: “I won’t be leaving because my wife won’t go.”
A statement from Angus Council said: “Over the past few days, resilience colleagues have been working with SEPA to identify areas at most risk of flooding, due to the unprecedented level of rain that is expected to fall across Angus.
“As a result, we have identified approximately 335 homes in Brechin, and an additional 87 homes in Tannadice and Finavon where residents will be asked to evacuate for their own safety.”
Neighbouring Aberdeenshire Council also announced rest centres had been set up before the rare red “danger to life” warning for rain came into effect in the region from 6pm.
Around 10,000 homes in Scotland lost power due to the storm, according to the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN).
The energy provider said it had restored services to 7,000 homes and engineers were “working to reconnect” around 3,000 more properties.
The storm could bring up to 200mm to 220mm of rain in some areas of eastern Scotland, an amount close to the highest ever 24-hour total for a “rainfall day”, Met Office figures show.
Some 238mm of rain was measured at Sloy Main Adit in Argyll & Bute between 9am on January 17 1974 and 9am the following day.
The storm is expected to rage overnight and into the weekend, with amber warnings for wind and rain issued for parts of northern England, the Midlands and northern Wales from noon on Friday to 6am on Saturday.
But amber warnings still raise the prospect of injuries and danger to life, power cuts and damage to buildings and flooding.
A yellow warning for Northern Ireland is also in place from 3am on Friday to 9am on Saturday.