FIREFIGHTERS battled to stop water engulfing homes and drivers had to abandon their cars as Lanarkshire and parts of Glasgow were hit by flash floods.

FIREFIGHTERS battled to stop water engulfing homes and drivers had to abandon their cars as Lanarkshire and parts of Glasgow were hit by flash floods.

Torrential rain and thunderstorms brought chaos to Hamilton, Bothwell, Blantyre and Cambuslang and fire crews had to respond to almost 130 emergency call-outs.

The city's East End was also affected as up to one inch of rain fell in some parts in just a few hours.

One vehicle was stranded in flood waters up to its roof on the Blantyre-Cambuslang road and it was feared people could be trapped inside.

However, when firefighters searched the vehicle they found it was empty.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue also used canoes to reach water-logged properties nearby.

Crews dealt with 127 flood related call-outs from 3-9pm in Lanarkshire and Glasgow.

However, no injuries were reported and no-one needed to be evacuated.

Group commander Alan Fairbairn said: "The spate of flooding-related incidents that stretched our resources and operational control centre has now eased."

South Lanarkshire crematorium, in Blantyre, was among the buildings affected by the floods.

Today, the A725 Hamilton Road, between East Kilbride and High Blantyre, was barely passable, while the A724 in Cambuslang, and Hillhouse Road, Hamilton, was partially flooded.

Traffic on the M8 slowed to a crawl during the height of yesterday's downpour.

The storms passed last night but heavy rains are expected to continue.

Forecasters said the flood risk was already high because of the wet weather over the past month.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency has 13 flood warnings in place across the country.

Matt Dobson, weather forecaster for the MeteoGroup, said several storms had developed quickly and battered a small area.

He said: "There were three or four hours of heavy showers or thunderstorms and some places had several storms over that period of time.

"It has been so wet this month that any more rain is going to increase the flooding risk because the ground is already saturated."

There was some less serious flooding in eastern Scotland.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service received 13 calls from around 8pm reporting floods.

The worst hit area was Livingston, West Lothian, with streets and gardens affected.