Scottish Water has announced plans to spend �250m to bolster its flood defences across the country.

The cash will be used to upgrade the sewerage infrastructure over the next four years, after inadequate drainage was blamed for recent floods.

Glasgow, Edinburgh and most recently Inverness have been deluged by flash floods which caused chaos on the roads.

Inverness is counting the cost of the recent extreme conditions which is expected to run into millions of pounds.

Inverness is counting the cost of flooding

Scottish Water's Geoff Aitkenhead said the authority was acutely aware that sewers required urgent repair and investment.

He said: "However, it has to be stressed that the flooding which hit parts of Glasgow in July was due to an exceptional rainfall event which no sewerage system is designed to cope with.

"The entire month of July's rainfall fell in just 10 hours and the storm was assessed as a one in a 100-year event."

Expert's warning

He said the authority recognised that although it could not prevent flooding single-handedly, it intended to liaise more closely with local councils, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and other key organisations.

A flood expert had previously warned that flash floods would become a more common sight in Scotland.

George Fleming, a UK Government advisor on flood defences, said global warming would exacerbate the problem.

He said in July that the country's flood design system could not cope with intensive flooding.

Road maintenance for flood risk management was at an all-time low and required an overhaul to cope with the extreme conditions, he added.