Tuesday 29th December - 8.20pm

Flood warnings had been appearing for a few days but the one at 8.20pm on 29/12/2015 is the one I remember seeing.

https://twitter.com/FloodAlerts/status/681944691277979649 

The river in flood can be an exciting thing, so I made a plan to get up early and take a look around.  Previously flooding has occurred to some parts of the golf course, caravan park and roads very near the river such as Dee Street.  On 11th August 2014 it was severe enough for 150 people to be evacuated from Ballater Caravan Park. (Source)  I did not expect it to be that bad, or indeed as bad a flood as it turned out to be.  I had expected the river to be fairly wild which can make for some dramatic photos of Ballater bridge.