Torrential rain caused the River Irvine to flood yesterday at Kilmarnock, above. A shopping area was hit and customers and staff were evacuated from Asda and Homebase stores, three car showrooms, a fast-food restaurant and a public house. About 100 children were moved out of a cinema and staff left a postal sorting office. Vehicles in a car park were abandoned.

More than three inches of torrential rain swamped houses and closed roads in southwest Scotland. Several people were rescued by coastguards, including a camper van couple stranded after Loch Ken flooded large areas near New Galloway and Mossdale.

The Galloway Hydro Scheme was badly hit and floodgates on the series of dams had to be opened, releasing millions of gallons of water that ended up in Loch Ken. The A762 road from Laurieston to New Galloway was closed in several places by water up to 4ft deep.

Houses were flooded in Dalbeattie, Twynholm and Newton Stewart and the Whitesands at Dumfries town centre was under water as the River Nith burst its banks for the second time in three days.

The A75 Gretna to Stranraer Euro-route was closed for several hours and the A711 between Kirkcudbright and Auchencairn was closed when strong winds brought down trees. The Newton Stewart to Girvan A714 was closed.

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