Services at a Scottish hospital have been badly affected by flooding.

The Daily Express reports that NHS Highland said the basement of Raigmore Hospital in Inverness had been affected, leading to problems with outpatient and theatre services.

It is understood that heavy overnight rain caused the flood.

Phone lines were knocked out by the water and it also led to delays to work in the hospital’s X-ray department and laboratories.

A number of clinical appointments were cancelled as well.

A spokesman for NHS Highland said: “Both estates and IT teams have been on site all night, supported by management who have put in place paper-based contingency plans.

“There will inevitably be some impact on computer-based services as the demand on temporary systems increases. It is anticipated that there will be some detrimental impact to outpatient and theatre services, with a team of administrative staff currently contacting people with appointments.”

Elsewhere in the world hospitals are geared up for flooding emergencies with FloodSax sandless sandbags which are pictured in action dealing with a flood at a hospital in the USA.

FloodSax are made by Yorkshire company Environmental Defence Systems and more than two million have been sold worldwide.

They are transformed from being as light as a pillowcase to being more effective than traditional sandbags in just three minutes.