Woman’s body recovered from a river amid Storm Babet red weather alert
The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river, Police Scotland said.
The body was recovered from a river in Angus, which is currently under a red weather alert due to heavy rain caused by Storm Babet.
More than 350 homes have been forced to evacuate over the poor weather conditions.
The Met Office warns the areas covered by the red weather alert can expect extensive flooding, road closures, loss of power, and collapsing buildings.
Read the latest on the impact of Storm Babet on our live blog
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘Around 1.45pm on Thursday, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
‘Around 4pm, the body of a 57-year-old woman was recovered from the river.
‘There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.’
Shona Robison, Scotland’s deputy first minister, has warned the worst impacts of the storm are yet to come.
She said: ‘Protecting the public is our immediate priority and we are co-ordinating a national effort to ensure that people are safe.
‘The red warning has been expanded to cover further parts of Scotland and we expect weather conditions to deteriorate seriously overnight.
‘Our message is clear – if you live in the areas covered by the red warning, please stay at home and do not travel, unless advised to relocate to a rest centre.
‘With weather warnings in place for much of the country, I would urge everyone to be vigilant and to exercise extreme caution.
‘No matter where you live, please make sure you stay up to date with conditions affecting your area.
‘If you need to travel in a yellow warning area then make sure you can travel safely and that roads and services are not impacted.
‘We are working with partners across the country, including emergency services, the voluntary sector and energy companies, to make sure that we mitigate disruption as much as possible.
‘However, we are clear that there will be considerable disruption and we expect to launch a major clean-up operation as we move into the weekend.’
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