ScotRail passengers are being asked to check journey times ahead of travelling over the next few days after Met Office warnings for heavy rain were issued. The downpours are expected to cause speed restrictions on many railways, especially in the East of the country.
Angus, Perthshire, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will be placed under an amber rain warning which will last until 3pm on Friday, November 18. Much more of Eastern Scotland has been placed under a yellow alert, which could lead to "delays or cancellations to train and bus services," according to the Met Office.
Network Rail has said that areas of the Highland Mainline, Fife and the East Coast Mainline will all be affected by speed restrictions. Around 100mm of rain is predicted to fall in these areas between Thursday and Saturday.
On Twitter, ScotRail wrote: "Over a month's worth of rain is expected to fall in many areas across Eastern Scotland between now and 7am on Saturday. For your safety, speed restrictions will come into place later today - check your journey on our app before travelling over the next few days."
The national rail operator added: "The first route to be affected will be Edinburgh - Dunbar in both directions from 12pm today. Trains will be limited to 40mph (down from 100mph) over a 7-mile section of track, adding around 10 mins to journeys. The remaining speed restrictions will kick in from 6pm."
Liam Sumpter, Route Director, Network Rail Scotland, said: “As the heavy rain and strong winds arrive overnight on Thursday into Friday, there will be some disruption on Scotland’s Railway. For safety reasons, we need to impose speed restrictions on areas of the Highland Mainline, Fife and the East Coast Mainline.
“We will have additional frontline teams working to check flood pumps and remove any debris on or near the railway. Our control room team will also be monitoring the weather in real-time and if conditions improve, we’ll remove the speed restrictions sooner.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
