Homes had to be evacuated today as flash flooding hit parts of Scotland.

Residents in West Lothian, were rescued by boat after torrential rain caused a burn to burst its banks.

The fire service said it had received reports of homes engulfed in 6ft of water.

An elderly couple was rescued from their home in Broxburn, West Lothian, in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters used an inflatable boat to take the 86-year-old man, who was in a wheelchair, and 65-year-old woman from the property around 12.30.

They were later taken to St John's Hospital in Livingston for a check-up.

Four people and a dog were also rescued by boat from a block of flats in Broxburn's West Main Street.

The residents were trapped in their homes, surrounded by 6ft of water, the fire service said.

In another flooding incident in the town an elderly woman in a wheelchair was rescued from her home.

She received medical treatment from ambulance crews.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said attempts to get sandbags last night had been affected by today's council strike.

The bags were eventually located after an emergency flood group including members of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, Lothian and Borders Police and West Lothian Council was set up.

A fire service spokeswoman said: "It has been absolute mayhem overnight.

"We have had numerous reports of flooding and dozens of homes affected.

"A few elderly people have been rescued from their homes . "They were affected by the cold and required hospital treatment.

"Others residents have also been rescued and some have decided to stay in their properties."

Meanwhile, flooding in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens, caused delays to train services going in and out of the city's Waverley Station.

Today's flooding comes after parts of Lanarkshire - including Hamilton, Bothwell and Cambuslang - were hit yesterday.

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

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said it had dealt with a total of 127 flooding-related call-outs between 3pm and 9pm yesterday and had been "stretched".

In one incident, firefighters attended a car trapped up to its roof in water 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.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said around 40 homes had been affected by flooding.

A West Lothian Council spokesman said: "During the late evening of Tuesday and early morning of Wednesday 20th August, emergency services and West Lothian Council dealt with reports of localised flooding in West Lothian.

"The most intense flooding was in Broxburn, where the Brox Burn burst its banks in West Burnside, and further localised flooding occurred in Burnvale.

"No persons were injured during the incident.

"Rest centre facilities were set up at West Calder Community Centre, to which one family self-evacuated."

He added that the A706 Linlithgow to Avon Gorge road was closed due to "severe flooding".

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said 14 flood watches were in place across Scotland.

Claire Austin, a meteorologist with the Press Association's weather division MeteoGroup, said more rain was forecast.

"There is a band of rain over central Scotland which is patchy, but will continue today and there may be the odd rumble of thunder.

"Overnight the rain will start to move north. Central areas will not be as badly affected tomorrow, but there will still be some showers.

"It has already been wet this month and the ground is saturated, so any further rain increases the risk of flooding."