Commonwealth Pool lets in water after Edinburgh deluge

Torrential downpours caused water to run through the roof into the main pool at the venue, which reopened less than four months ago after a major three-year refurbishment.

More than 40 Olympic swimmers representing Team GB are due to arrive to put the finishing touches to their Games preparations in just two weeks’ time.

One worker at the pool, who asked not to be named, told the News: “There was a torrential downpour and suddenly the rain began running in one constant stream into the main pool.”

And another user took to twitter, posting: “Royal Commie pool roof leaking into the pool. The ceiling above the pool and above part of seating area was leaking – due to heavy rain I presume.”

Edinburgh Leisure said today they were looking into the cause of the problem.

A spokeswoman said the venue had not closed, but new customers had been stopped from entering the pool during the worst of the rain as a precaution.

She said: “There were small, isolated areas where drips were coming through the roof area, but there is no significant long-term damage to the venue.

“At the moment it seems it was the sheer volume of water coming down that caused this issue. We will, as a matter of priority, be investigating with the building contractors and the city council, to ascertain exactly why this happened.

“We are still in the snagging stages for the building. This is a good opportunity to see how we can minimise this happening in the future.”

The problem came as heavy rain lashed the Capital during the early part of yesterday evening, leading to flash flooding in various parts of the city including parts of Princes Street.

Traders in South Clerk Street told how a river of water was running into shops, with many forced to erect impromptu barriers.

Commuters also faced severe delays on the roads and railways. Flooding was also reported at Waverley Station, while motorists were warned of hour-long tailbacks on the City Bypass.

The entire A720 was affected, with the worst flooding between Hermiston Gait and Baberton.

Lothian Buses also reported that gridlocked traffic was causing serious delays

At Haymarket Station, flooding in the tunnels caused 50-minute delays and trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow were suspended as engineers worked desperately to drain water and allow services to run freely.

The road under the railway bridge at Abbeyhill was left virtually impassible by standing water almost a foot and a half deep, forcing cars to edge their way through it.

An amber warning was issued by the Met Office across much of central Scotland warning the public to be aware of heavy downpours and resulting surface flooding.

Met Office forecaster Helen Chiver said: “The likelihood of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday is very high and the impact is likely to be high with disruption expected due to flooding.”

But organisers of this weekend’s T in The Park, expected to attract 85,000 music fans, insisted the event would go ahead despite the heavy rain forecast.

They said the site at Balado, near Kinross, was in “great condition”.