24/12/2012 Reporting Scotland

More than 20 flood warnings are run place tonight across Aberdeenshire

and Perthshire. Stonehaven was hit by severe flooding yesterday for

the second time in a week. 40 residents were forced out of their

homes when the river rip -- the river burst its banks.

This is not what Christmassy should be about. The residents of

Stonehaven's High Street try to clear up the mess left by the

flooding. This street, underwater until last night. 40 people had to

be rescued, many by boat. Vehicles left stranded in the water

and mud today towed away. Aaron Burton returns home for the

first time since leaving in the early hours of Sunday morning. It

is the second time in three years he has been flooded out. I am in a

Taoiseach. The mud is everywhere. - - I am in utter shock. I have fond

of the insurance company. I'm taking stock of what I have left.

And what I have lost. People have lost their homes again. What has

Stonehaven done? This could have been prevented. Tough questions

from the Environment Minister. Given the scale of the events that

happen today, I hope the council could put together a plan to deal

with this sort of situation. High Street in Stonehaven is due to

come into the international spotlight on Hogmanay with the

annual fireball ceremony. The residents are determined that it

should still go ahead. At the Town Hall, volunteers are over whelmed

by donations to help the flood victims. If you had seen the mess

in the streets, all these old people now frightened of the sea.

It is heartbreaking. It brings a lump to everybody's throat. Look at

these nice people here could have come down. -- that have come down.

The streets and pavements can be easily cleaned but inside, the

damage has been done that will take a long time to clean up.

Three Buddhist monks have been killed in a road accident on the

A68 in the Scottish borders. It happens south of the junction with

the B468 at 7:30am this morning. One of the car has ended up on its

routes -- on its roof. The female driver managed to get out before at

the emergency services arrived. Fire crews cut one man freefall

stop a man has appeared in court charged with assaulting a

councillor who died in Glasgow at the weekend.

Darren Murphy is alleged to have punched John Morrison on the head

in Dunlop Street. The 25-year-old made no plea or declaration and was

released on bail. 43rd year in a row, a book by the

Children's Laureate has been turned into a Christmas Day film. Room on

the Broom follows the Gruffalo's success. The author lives near

Glasgow and says she hopes the film will encourage people to visit a

library and read more. Room on the Broom is a tale of a wedge and the

third picture book to be made into a film and shown on Christmas Day.

-- which. At home, the author admits it has taken her by surprise.

It is exciting to have a Christmas Day slot. This year, the

illustrator has designed Christmas stamps as well. Some people have

accused us of taking over Christmas but I promise you, it was not

intentional. As Children's Laureate, Donaldson is passionate about

reading and libraries. This summer, she spent six weeks touring

libraries between John O'Groats and Land's End to prevent cuts and

closures. I think there is more fervour now, because of all the

attention that has been devoted to libraries. I feel slightly more

optimistic than I did, but you cannot be complacent. She tapped to

the British DEC and... Wash! They were gone. -- tapped the broomstick.

She ends her year on a high, as do some offer a lovable creations.

-- some of her lovable creations. For one Glasgow family, the odds of

a white Christmas have not been squashed. Kelvin Kirkwood's mother

won a prize where she two it does not look like the rest of us will

be seeing the snow. More of a wet be seeing the snow. More of a wet

Christmas than a white Christmas. Not for everyone. The rest of the

rain slowly clearing out towards the North Sea as I speak. Looking

at the map over the next couple of hours, you can see it disappears

out. We used that -- we lose that yellow warning and most areas

should be dry but cloudy. Some outbreaks across Orkney. Mist and

fog developing at times. Tomorrow, generally dry and there should be

some amounts of brightness coming through. Some showers across the

North and later pushing in towards Glasgow. Temperatures close to

average. Into the evening and overnight, showers working their

way in. Across the Northern Isles, it could be wintry. On Boxing Day,

much of the country reasonably dry. Then, later on, as we head through

towards Thursday, the rain is working north. We can see wintry

showers. Much of the country will showers. Much of the country will

be dry, as it will be tomorrow. That is the forecast.

That is all from us this evening. We will be back with updates on