Staff at a popular Edinburgh cafe have been left fighting a losing battle against flood water pouring inside as sheets of rain submerged parts of the Capital.
A video taken by workers at The Village Cafe in Corstorphine shows several people armed with mops, buckets and sections of cardboard desperately trying to rid the cafe of rainwater surging in from the street.
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Bosses said it was the second time in the space of two months that the eatery had been impacted by flash flooding in the area, with heavy July rainfall also leaving St John’s Road soaked under several inches of water due to drainage issues.
The cafe has remained open for takeaway only, though customers face a battle through ankle-deep pools to reach the front door.
Manager Orkun Simsek told Edinburgh Live: “This is the second time it has happened this summer.
“As soon as it starts raining heavily, all the sewers are blocked up so the water has nowhere to go but to come pumping onto the road.
“Then you have cars going past and they create waves that just flow into the shop. It was getting up to around ankle deep.”
Images earlier on Monday showed vehicles on St John’s Road struggling to pass through waves of standing water amid a yellow Met Office warning.
Other parts of the city have also been badly affected, with shoppers at Cameron Toll being forced to abandon cars after flash flooding left them stranded in the centre’s car park.
Forecasters warned that up to 80mm of rain could fall in the space of just a few hours on Monday alone.
Orkun, 21, added the cafe had previously reported issues with drainage in the area to the City of Edinburgh council, but had received no response to their pleas for gullies to be cleaned.
“We were trying to clean up as much as we can but we had customers inside and we were trying to work around them, which was a bit of an awkward situation," he said.
“We contacted the council last time because one of the manhole covers outside on the road had popped open and all the water was coming back out from there.
“They said someone would come round and check it but no one ever appeared.
“We’ve cleaned up as much as we can and we’ve got a dehumidifier coming into the shop later tonight to help clear the rest.
“If they just blocked off part of the road when the rain is so heavy then the shops wouldn’t be flooded."
Last month, Edinburgh Live revealed the local authority received more than 1,700 requests to clear blocked drains across the city before neighbourhoods were flooded by freak weather.
Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “We make every effort to respond to the effects of any heavy rain as quickly as possible, with gully teams out and about tackling blocked or overwhelmed road gullies, including on St John’s Road.
"Our Flood Prevention team are closely monitoring the weather forecast and river levels and checking culvert grilles too, and are ready to close flood gates if necessary. I would encourage anyone heading out and about to take care, especially if driving in areas where surface water has gathered."
Cllr Macinnes added: “Sudden, extreme and often localised weather events like these are extremely difficult to predict and, unfortunately, are becoming more frequent as climate change effects intensify – today’s publication by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change backs this up.
"We’ll continue to do everything we can to minimise the impact on the city’s roads and to monitor river flows and we’re now also developing surface water management plans to identify the areas most at risk of flooding, and to consider what mitigating actions we can take.”
