"Biblical" flash floods have caused utter chaos across parts of Britain as rivers burst their banks forcing school closures, travel disruption and several emergency incidents.
Shocking pictures show the devastating impact of the heavy rainfall over eastern areas of Scotland.
It comes after yellow and amber thunderstorm weather warnings were issued by the Met Office, meaning they could present a "danger to life".
A number of schools across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have been closed by council bosses after the heaving downpours, including Portlethen Academy, Dunnottar School, Mackie Academy and Hillside School.
Falkirk, Fife, Perth, Edinburgh and other areas have also been badly affected.
In Falkirk the banks of the river have burst leaving a car park flooded beside the Premier Inn.
It is unclear if guests remain trapped inside the building, the Daily Record reports.
A major hospital car park in Fife also appears to be flooded.
Dramatic lightning storms hit parts of the country overnight particularly in Edinburgh where residents took stunning pictures of lightning over the city.
Lightning, heavy rain showers and even large hail storms are on the cards for Scots over the next two days.
Some parts of the country could see around 80mm of rain fall in just a three hour period.
Train services have also been disrupted with no trains running either way between Edinburgh and Fife, Glasgow or Dunblane. Aberdeen services are also mostly cancelled.
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Pictures from across the country show some cars almost submerged.
Fife was also hit hard with images showing the water levels higher than the roof of vans.
Perth High School's reopening was also delayed by the heavy downpours with a message sent to parents.
Vivid pictures have also shown a river of brown water flowing through Perth's streets after the flooding.
A statement from north-east police division this morning read: "We are currently receiving a large number of calls in relation to localised flooding across Aberdeen City and the Shire.
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"Please consider if your journey is necessary and if so, drive with extra care.
"The weather conditions are very poor."
Yesterday it was warned that ‘danger to life’ floods are expected to descend over the country for two days.
Experts at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have issued 19 flood alerts, which covers the entire country.
Rail passengers and motorists were facing disruption due to the conditions on Wednesday morning.
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ScotRail tweeted that due to "extremely heavy rain" and flooding on the railway, services across the country will be delayed or cancelled.
Passengers were advised to check before travelling and consider alternative transport where possible.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to multiple reports of flooding in the Perthshire area with many domestic properties affected.
Perth and Kinross Council said there were several roads impassable in the area due to flooding.
At 7am, the council tweeted that Feus Road/Marshall Place/Wallace Crescent/Crammond Place/Crieff Road/Glasgow Road and A912 at Bogle Bridge were affected while surface water was causing problems in many other areas.
Pictures posted on social media showed cars half-submerged in floodwater in streets in Perth.
In Fife, a landslide caused the closure of the A921 between Kinghorn and Burntisland.
Police urged motorists to use an alternative route.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of thunderstorms for the eastern half of Scotland which is in force until midnight on Wednesday.
It warned that some places are likely to see "further severe thunderstorms", but with "significant uncertainty in location and timing".
The warning covers Central, Tayside and Fife, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling.
On social media, locals wrote they had 'never seen anything like it'.
One wrote: "Biblical levels of flooding all the way up to us on Polmuir Road this morning. Never seen it this bad."
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