A major clear-up operation was under way in Scotland today after two landslides blocked a major road and trapped more than 50 people in their vehicles.

The RAF, Royal Navy and central Scotland emergency services were involved in a dramatic three-hour bid to airlift motorists stranded on a stretch of the A85 through Glen Ogle, near Callander.

The road, a main route to the Highlands, was cut off after more than two hours of torrential rain sent a torrent of debris streaming down the hillside. One resident in the nearby village of Lochearnhead, around 30 miles from Stirling, described the deluge as a "disaster" and told how the extreme weather had flooded homes and businesses in the popular tourist spot.

Central Scotland police were continuing a search of the area north of Lochearnhead through the night as a precautionary measure, but the force said there were no reports of any missing persons or casualties.

Michael Mulford, a spokesman for RAF Kinloss, said the operation involved a race against the clock, for fear those sandwiched between the two landslides would be swept away by a third.

Fifty-seven people had been rescued, he added.

"It is absolutely disastrous. A massive 30ft tree fell across the bridge and much of the road is no longer there. A whole section of the road was just swept away," said eyewitness Thomas Orrock, 17.

Superintendent Stewart Marshall, of Central Scotland Police, said it was the worst incident of its kind he had seen in his 30-year career.

Drivers were being advised to stay away from the area until further notice and to take extra care if they have to travel.

Shona Maxwell, from Edinburgh, who was rescued along with her partner after the landslide narrowly missed their car, described the experience as "pretty terrifying".

"We had just moved our car in time, or we would have been hit ... we were just grateful that we didn't get caught right in the heart of it, and waited to get winched up," she told BBC Radio Scotland.

Teams of road workers from road maintenance company Bear Scotland began clearing operations on the A85, using diggers to clear away the tons of mud, rock and rubble which in some places was five or six feet deep.

"The teams arrived immediately following the initial landslide, but had to withdraw from the area as continuing torrential rain and falling debris made the area unsafe," said a company spokesman.

"One Bear emergency response crew had a narrow escape as their vehicle was swept away - 80 metres down the gorge - whilst the team was assisting motorists. Noone was injured in the incident."

The A85 remained closed today north of Lochearnhead, and was also shut between Lochearnhead and Crieff. The A84 south of Lochearnhead to Strathyre was also closed and the A87 at Cluanie was partly blocked by a landslip but was passable with care.

In the north-east of Scotland, between 6,000 and 7,000 people were still without electricity following a night of severe thunderstorms. There were also reports of localised flooding in Aberdeen, Forres and Elgin.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) currently has two flood warnings in place, on the River Spey downstream from Fochabers to Spey Bay in Moray, and the River Carron in Caithness and Sutherland.

In County Durham, two young people were winched to safety after their car had been trapped in a swollen river and police and fire crews had tried to reach the pair.

Flooding was also reported across Northern Ireland today after a night of heavy rain.

There were reports of widespread flooding in the Greater Belfast area as well as Newtownards, Comber and Banbridge in Co Down, Lisburn, Co Antrim, and in Armagh.

With further heavy rain and strong winds forecast for many parts of the country over the next few days, the Highways Agency urged drivers to take extra care on the roads.

PA WeatherCentre forecaster Jeremy Plester said that hope was on the horizon that conditions will ease by the weekend, before deteriorating again early next week.

"The likelihood is that we will see some sunny and dry spells across most of Britain on Friday and Saturday but it will feel cold in Scotland. However, the picture looks gloomy again for next week with an unsettled outlook," he said.

In the longer term, experts warned that flooding and landslides like those seen at opposite ends of Britain in the past few days may be the face of things to come.

Met Office forecaster Clive Burlton said that while specific events could not be linked directly to global climate change, it was likely severe weather events would become more common.

"The expectation is that there are going to be more heatwaves and more extreme events. These sort of events are expected to increase and there will be more extremes than in the past," he said.

The European Environment Agency has also issued a stark warning about the future of our weather.

"This report pulls together a wealth of evidence that climate change is already happening and having widespread impacts, many of them with substantial economic costs on people and ecosystems across Europe," said the agency's director Jacqueline McGlade.

"The consequences of climate change are a very real and dangerous threat, yet international leaders seem to pay little heed to the warning bells," said Friends of the Earth campaigns director Mike Childs.

"The prime minister must convince his fellow world leaders that climate change is as big a threat to people and the planet as international terrorism."