SCOTTISH Borders Council has reacted to the weather warnings issued for the region.

A yellow warning for rain is currently in place for the Borders until noon tomorrow (January 20).

The Met Office has issued a further yellow warning – this time for snow – set to apply from tomorrow at noon until Thursday at the same time.

SEPA has also issued a flood alert for the whole of the Borders due to the forecasted rainfall.

READ MORE: Borders weather: Snow warning issued by Met Office with 'risk of disruption'

Jim Fraser, Scottish Borders Council’s emergency planning officer, said: “The next couple of days are going to bring further challenging weather conditions for the Borders, first in the form of heavy rain and then snow.

“With already saturated ground, we are closely monitoring the situation and liaising with our SEPA and Met Office colleagues around the potential for localised flooding, particularly later today and into Wednesday.

“I would once again encourage Borderers at risk of river flooding to make sure you have signed up for SEPA’s free Floodline service to ensure you receive flood warnings as and when they are issued, and take all necessary precautions to protect your homes and businesses in that event.

“The council is well prepared and able to respond to any issues that do occur over the coming days to support our communities, but please play your part and take notice of the warning and take action where required.”

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The council also provided some advice for Borderers.

General rain/flooding advice:

  • Make sure you are signed up to SEPA’s free Floodline service for updates and warnings relevant to your property or place of work
  • If you know your property is at risk of flooding, make use of flood gates and other flood protection products if you have them. Move important documents and valuables to a safe place that will remain dry
  • Make sure you know where your nearest sandbag store is – visit www.scotborders.gov.uk/findit for details
  • Don’t walk or drive through flood water, and do not ignore ‘road closed’ signs.
  • Sign up to the free emergency messaging system SB Alert – a vital tool for the Council and key partners, including Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, to get important information to residents and businesses quickly, including weather warnings, road closures, utility failures and general updates. Alerts can be provided by phone, text or email and the type of alert received can be chosen when signing up at www.sbalert.co.uk