Firefighters battled to protect homes last night as parts of Scotland were hit by flash floods.

Torrential rains and thunderstorms with up to an inch of rain descended over parts of Lanarkshire yesterday afternoon and into the evening, triggering a deluge.

The Met Office last night issued a weather warning of further rain today leading to fresh flooding in areas, including west central Scotland and the Borders, where the ground is already saturated from recent downpours.

The spate of calls to Strathclyde fire and rescue, from around 3pm onwards, came largely from members of the public in South Lanarkshire.

By midnight more than 120 flood-related incidents had been dealt with by the brigade over six-hours as households struggled to cope with the deluge.

The main areas affected by localised flash floods included Hamilton, Blantyre, Bothwell, Cambuslang and East Kilbride.

The A725 East Kilbride expressway was reported to be badly affected by surface water and one lane on the westbound carriageway was blocked by flooding just past Blantyre.

Sandra Beattie lives in Silvertonhill, one of the areas in Hamilton hit by floods. She said: "The water ran right through our garage because the local drain didn't appear to be able to take the water. It rose around six inches, and I'm now concerned our building might be damaged."

Residents in Tollcross and Cambuslang also reported small burns bursting their banks.

Group commander Alan Fairbairn, spokesman for Strathclyde fire and rescue, said last night firefighters had been "stretched" by the spate of call-outs but the situation had eased. No injuries were reported and no-one had been evacuated, he added.

In one incident, firefighters attended a car stranded up to its roof in floodwaters in Cambuslang and were not sure whether there was anyone trapped inside. But fire crews and police searched the vehicle and confirmed it was empty.

South Lanarkshire council's emergency call centre had been "inundated" with calls from people affected by the flooding. A spokeswoman last night said: "There has been quite exceptional rain. People have been calling concerned mainly about flooding and blocked drains, although there has been no need for evacuations as yet. It is a situation we will continue to monitor as it is quite a changing picture."

She added that South Lanarkshire crematorium, in Blantyre, was one of the buildings affected by the floods.

There was also some flooding in eastern Scotland. Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said they had received 13 calls from around 8pm reporting floods. The worst hit area was Livingston, where people reported streets and gardens had been hit.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued a dozen flood alerts last night.

Forecasters said summer storms developed quickly at a time when the flood risk was high because of wet weather over the past month.

Matt Dobson, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said several storms had battered a small area. They had moved in a line over a narrow strip of the country, tipping more than an inch of water on to the affected areas between 3pm and 7pm.

Storms developed between Glasgow and Edinburgh and moved south-east towards the Borders, he said.