Storm Austen brings heavy rain and flood warnings to Scotland

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 12:08 · Archive

Storm Austen, the first named storm of the 2026/2027 season, is bringing heavy rain and flood warnings to Edinburgh and central Scotland from Friday morning.

Storm Austen, the first named storm of the 2026/2027 meteorological season, is bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Edinburgh and the Lothians this weekend. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain across central and eastern Scotland from 6am on Friday, October 23, until 3am on Saturday.

The warning area covers the Central Belt and northeast Scotland. Between 20 and 40mm of rain is expected widely, though some locations could see 60 to 80mm. The rain is expected to develop before dawn on Friday and extend over northeast Scotland during the morning and early afternoon, before turning lighter and clearing from the west through the evening and overnight.

The Met Office has warned of a small chance of flooding, which could cause damage to buildings and disruption to public transport services. People have been advised to plan ahead and change travel plans if necessary.

How it is being reported

• Met Office weather warning issued for Edinburgh as Storm Austen to bring heavy rain - hour-by-hour forecastStorm Austen is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to Edinburgh this weekend.Edinburgh Evening News · 21 Oct, 11:32
• Storm Austen: Edinburgh and Lothians hit with flood warning ahead of heavy downpoursPersistent heavy rain is to be expected this weekend.Edinburgh Live · 21 Oct, 10:57

In this story: Edinburgh · Lothians · Scotland · Met Office · Central Belt · Northeast Scotland

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem