Scotland's weather: Motorists warned of localised flooding DRIVERS in Scotland have been told to take extra care amid fears of localised flooding after heavy rain. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued flood alerts for Edinburgh and Lothians and the Borders. They warned of isolated flooding on low-lying land. Last night, the Met Office downgraded amber "be prepared" warnings for South West Scotland and Lothian and Borders to a yellow "be aware" status. The yellow alerts, which also cover Strathclyde, Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, say the public should be aware of the risk of localised flooding. The Scottish Government welcomed the downgrading but warned people to take care. A spokesman said: "While this is encouraging news, we are not complacent. A meeting of the Scottish Government's resilience team involving representatives from Transport Scotland, the Met Office, emergency services and Sepa took place this morning to receive an update on preparations. We are confident appropriate planning and resources are in place. However, we would advise the travelling public and motorists to take extra care in areas that are still expected to experience heavy surface water, downpours and potentially difficult driving conditions. The Traffic Scotland control centre continues to monitor the travel situation very closely and liaise with key partners including ScotRail, Network Rail and operating companies. Network Rail are monitoring rain levels at stations and Sepa will also continue to keep a very close eye on the flooding risk. In Glasgow, Hawthorn Street was closed for a time due to flooding under the railway bridge near Carlisle Street. Forecasters said that the weather was likely to improve this afternoon. Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Central areas have received most of the rainfall today and there has been quite a bit across the south east in terms of cumulative rainfall. The forecast for the rest of today is for the rain to move away though there may be patchy drizzle over north east Scotland, but most areas look like they are going to turn dry. MeteoGroup said that the wet summer was caused by strong atmospheric winds blowing storms over the Atlantic towards the British Isles.