Did the young STV reporter with the Ulster accent think she was speaking to a local councillor tonight in Largs when prompted by a chocolate shop owner, she accused Stephen Flynn, Transport Minister, personally and directly of having paved over storm drains.

The resurfacing of the road outside the shop was resurfaced by Amey in 2021 with further work after more flooding in 2025.

Might the flooding this time be due to the intensity of this storm?

Yes — the intensity of Storm Boelo was almost certainly a major factor in the scale of the flooding on Largs Main Street this time.

Storm Boelo (overnight 24–25 October 2026) brought:

• Gusts widely exceeding 80 mph, with peaks of 84–85 mph in western Scotland.
• Heavy rainfall that caused both surface-water and coastal flooding across parts of the west coast (including Largs, Dumbarton and Rothesay).
• Significant storm surge and high tides. Reports and the shop owner herself described the tide as “incredibly high” and the water levels as the highest she had seen in 26 years of trading. Seawater was reported flooding buildings and the seafront; debris was washed up, and further high tides were expected later in the day.⁠

Toni Dawson of Geraldo’s explicitly described this event as far worse than previous ones and noted the extreme tide. Other local businesses also reported seawater or extreme flooding not limited to the previous rainwater runoff issues.

This Storm Boelo event, however, combined heavy rain with a substantial coastal surge and high tide. That is a different (and more extreme) driver than the previous surface-water problems alone. Coastal towns on the Ayrshire and wider west-coast frontage were widely affected by the same combination of wind, rain and elevated sea levels.

In short, while the pre-existing drainage shortcomings may have made the situation worse, the exceptional intensity of this storm, especially the high tide and storm surge, is the dominant reason the flooding reached the scale reported on 25 October.

Would further flood defences have prevented flooding from a storm of this intensity?

Further flood defences would likely have reduced the risk and severity, but it is unlikely they would have fully prevented flooding from a storm of Storm Boelo’s intensity. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15665-3

Is the problem the closeness of the shopping street to the shore unlike in some other towns such as Ayr?

Yes — the closeness of Largs’ main shopping street to the shore is a fundamental reason it is more vulnerable to coastal flooding than towns such as Ayr. https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/water/flooding/check-your-flood-risk/