Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

SCOTLAND was on the brink of more devastating floods last night as forecasters warned another deluge is to batter the country.

Abergeldie Castle is just one of the homes at risk after the River Dee swept away land, leaving the historic building feet from disaster.

Crews were desperately putting sandbags in place around the country last night as one forecaster said: “It’s not looking good.”

Emergency crews were desperately sandbagging river banks and homes in affected

areas yesterday.

A neighbour of the Queen had to flee his castle when the raging River Dee threatened to sweep it away during Storm Frank.

Baron Abergeldie, 76-year-old John Gordon, left his 16th century tower house near Balmoral as the river burst its banks.

It swept away a chunk of land behind the castle, leaving the A-listed four-storey building just feet from the water’s edge.

The tower, home to the 21st laird since 1972, remains under threat as heavy rains continue.

The baron took refuge in the home of a neighbour then moved into another house on the

estate. The neighbour, Gordon Fraser, said: “He left the castle when the river was at its height. It swept the embankment away.

“It moved a 60ft lump of ground and took a lot of big mature trees as well.”

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Part of the Gordon family’s 11,700-acre estate is rented out to the Royals for shooting and fishing. Abergeldie Castle itself was leased to Prince Albert in 1848 and then used by other members of the Royal Family.

The baron was too upset to comment about his ordeal.

A string of amber and yellow warnings have been issued by the Met Office for Fife, Tayside, Grampian and Dumfries and Galloway.

As residents and businesses battled to mop up after Storm Frank – which caused some of the worst flooding in decades – experts fear there could be more misery in store as rain pours on to saturated ground.

The amber alert of “potential risk to life” in Central, Tayside and Fife means both surface water and river flooding are likely, as well as disruption to transport.

With predictions from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency that a month’s worth of rain could fall in 48 hours, there are also fears that clean-up operations could be hampered.

Met Office forecaster Peter Sloss said: “It’s a very unsettled weather pattern leading into the first 10 days of January.

“The main areas of concern are Tayside, Angus and up towards Aberdeenshire. River levels are already high and clearly another lot of rain lasting a long time, where there’s not going to be any drainage, raises concerns. The warning is to be prepared for localised flooding.”

The Met Office are closely monitoring the storm-hit areas of the Borders and Caithness, with a yellow “be aware” warning issued for flood-hit Dumfries and Galloway from today.

Sloss added: “It’s different from what we saw last week in terms of flooding because the wind direction is different – it’s more south-easterly and is coming in off the North Sea.

“The areas that were badly affected like Dumfries and Galloway are not seeing the same impact as they did last week but locally it still could add to problems.

“It’s very much looking like areas north of the Tay will be the worst affected over the next few days.”

Storm Frank hit on Wednesday and left two people dead, more than 6000 homes without power and hundreds more evacuated, as well as a multi-million-pound repair bill.

The body of a kayaker was recovered from the River Findhorn in Moray after he was caught in rapids on Hogmanay.

A 36-year-old man who fell from a canoe on the River Garry in Inverness-shire also later died, after he and an 18-year-old were plucked from the water on Thursday. Yesterday,

Ballater in Aberdeenshire was shoring up its flood defences as the rain continued.

Hundreds of large builders merchants’ bags filled with sand were deployed at the “hot spots” near the golf course and caravan park devastated last week when the River Dee burst its banks.

On the banks, a caravan was still lodged on the roof of a house and gas bottles were wedged in trees all along the riverside. Five of Prince Charles’s Metropolitan Police

bodyguards living in a cottage on his Highland estate in nearby Birkhall were flooded out and had to be booked in to a hotel.

After a mild December, temperatures will plunge from tomorrow with snow expected on higher ground in northern Scotland. There will be little respite from the downpours, with more rain crossing the whole country from Thursday.

Sloss said: “It will turn colder by the middle part of the week, with night time temperatures down to freezing, but they will start to come up a little bit again.”

Parts of England will also be battered by heavy rain, with a yellow warning out for Northumberland.

Businesses and families in Scotland hit by the floods could be let off from paying council charges until they can return to their workplaces and homes.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney raised the possibility of excusing homeowners when he visited storm-hit Ballater on Thursday.

And Scottish Government officials yesterday confirmed they were also considering allowing

businesses not to pay rates until they can return to their premises.

Flood victims often have to wait for up to a year before returning home or to their businesses.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We allocated £4million in the recent budget to enable councils to support individuals and businesses affected by flooding in meeting their council tax and business rate bills.

“Full details are being finalised with the relevant local authorities.”

But Labour have demanded a Government review of flood defences across Scotland.

The party’s environmental justice spokeswoman Sarah Boyack criticised the decision by the SNP government in 2009 to end ring-fencing of cash for flood defence and prevention schemes.

The move left councils to decide how money is allocated from general funds.

Boyack said: “Every local authority in Scotland faces different flood risks.

“When the SNP removed direct support for flooding, I argued against it but they went ahead

anyway.

“As we have seen only too graphically this week, there are certain parts of Scotland that are extremely vulnerable to flooding.

“I know from Edinburgh’s experience that our flood scheme works were delayed and then split into different phases as the council struggled to find the money up front for all the works.

“Given that we know there is more bad weather on the way, there needs to be an urgent review by all local authorities of their flood defences.

“And the SNP Government will need to make good on the promise made by the First Minister to provide extra financial resources where they are needed.”

Communities come together to help victims

A single mum who was rescued from floods by her next-door neighbours says she has no idea when she will be able to move back into her home.

Ania Poliubicka, 34, was saved by Tanya and Trevor Allan when the River Cree burst its banks and swamped her ground-floor flat in Newton Stewart with water.

Ania and her two sons Syzmon, seven, and Bartek, five, were forced to flee. She said: “My neighbours came and helped me. Without them, I would’ve been stuck.”

Ania, who moved to the town from Poland 10 years ago, has become close friends with the Allans. She is now living with them until her flat is ready to move into again while her two boys are with their father.

Disabled pensioner Gerald McNairn, 79, fears it could be seven months before he can return home. Gerald, who needs a mobility scooter to get around and suffers from heart problems, has been put up in a bed and breakfast while he waits on his insurance company to assess the damage.

The OAP, known to friends as Nicky, said: “My house had just been decorated, with new carpets and everything.”

Mike Kneeshaw from Galloway Mountain Rescue said: “The community spirit was its best and everyone was pulling together and helping each other.”