Morning Briefing: City sees stampede for the sun amid washout summer CITY residents have joined a stampede for the sun, as forecasters issue flood warnings across the Capital. Emergency services are on standby as the Met Office predict even more heavy rain over today and tonight. As a result, more and more families are heading for the airport in an effort to flee the misery. Travel firms are reporting a sharp rise in holiday inquiries following the wettest June on record and torrential rain at the start of this month. Bill Munro, boss of Barrhead Travel said: "People are literally walking up to our staff and saying, "Get me out of here." Many of them don't seem to care too much where they are going, as long as it is warm, sunny and dry. This summer is on course to be one of the biggest washouts in history. Since the start of June, 230mm of rain has been recorded at the Royal Botanic Garden's Met Office weather station, with the usual average total for the summer months reading between 150mm and 200mm. The month also produced just 119 hours of sunshine, 25 per cent less than usual. UNIONIST parties have recruited election experts to compose a single question for the independence referendum. Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats claim the move will ensure a clear and neutral form of words for a straight Yes-No ballot in 2014. They complain the SNP's preferred wording - Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? - is biased because it invites a positive response. The new panel will be chaired by former Edinburgh University principal Lord Sutherland of Houndwood and constitutional experts Dr Matt Qvortrup and Ron Gould. Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said: "The question to be put to the Scottish people in the referendum is too important to be left in the hands of politicians and I am confident that we have put together a group of experts who are able to draft a question which is balanced and fair." THE Crown Estate is to give up control of land in Princes Street Gardens as part of an overhaul of its property management. The organisation, which holds a property portfolio on behalf of the Queen, said it would transfer the land and some other assets in Scotland to Scottish organisations. The city council is thought the most likely to be handed the five hectares of West Princes Gardens since it already leases the land from the Crown Estate.