Hundreds of people were being evacuated from their homes and schools closed in parts of Scotland on Thursday, as much of northern Europe braced for stormy weather, heavy rain and gale-force winds from the east.

The UK's weather forecaster, the Met Office, issued a rare red alert — the highest level of weather warning — for parts of Scotland, predicting "exceptional rainfall" across Thursday and Friday that is expected to cause extensive flooding and "danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater." The last red alert in the UK was issued in 2020.

Forecasters say the storm, named Babet by UK officials, could bring more than a month's worth of rain in the worst-affected regions in Scotland.

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Babet already brought flooding to several towns and villages in Ireland, with some areas remaining under water and without power on Thursday.

Soldiers helped with evacuation measures in the town of Midleton in County Cork, where more than 100 properties were flooded.

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In the town of Brechin, near Scotland's eastern coast, officials told residents of about 400 houses to evacuate to local rest centres. Local schools were closed and will remain shut on Friday.

In Denmark, residents scrambled to place sandbags along exposed areas.

In Assens on the central island of Funen, emergency services deployed huge rubber tubes in the harbour to counter rising water levels, broadcaster TV2 reported.

Southern Denmark police urged people along the east coast to leave exposed areas if the weather predictions remain, saying cottages, harbors and other places could be flooded.

TV2 reported that the region would likely see the worst flooding in 110 years, and the Danish Meteorological Institute said waves could reach 4 metres along east-facing coasts.

The southeastern Danish town of Koege wrote on its Facebook page that emergency workers were busy filling sandbags and urged citizens to "avoid unnecessary baths, dishes, laundry and other water-intensive activities," saying "the municipality's treatment plant was at risk of being overloaded."

Police in the area warned that roads may be blocked, urged people to secure valuables and advised against sleeping on their boats in the harbors, saying that "if something happens, emergency services cannot get to them," police spokesperson Brian Bang-Rasmussen said.

Copenhagen's airport and the Danish national rail company warned of cancellations and delays Friday because of bad weather.

Several ferry lines between Danish islands were suspended, as were ferries to Rostock in northern Germany and to Oslo.

Swedish meteorologists also issued a warning for the south coast from Friday evening and Saturday. They said that the water level in southern parts of Sweden may reach its highest level since the 1990s.

In Germany, authorities warned of high water in bays in Schleswig-Holstein, south of the Denmark border, until mid-Saturday.

Authorities also warned of high water in the next two days on the Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state, with water levels of up to 2 metres above average possible in the inlet where the city of Flensburg is located.

Some ferries to the North Sea islands of Foehr and Amrum were delayed or cancelled, German news agency dpa reported.

Norwegian meteorologists said a strong low-pressure area over Great Britain combined with high pressure over northern Scandinavia was creating strong east-northeasterly winds, with "very strong gusts" expected to hit southern Norway from the east.

New data has revealed the top suburbs contributing to rental stress amid the nation's housing crisis, with those doing it toughest coughing up as much as 45 per cent of their income to secure a roof over their head.

The latest Rental Pain Index released today by Suburbtrends found the worst suburbs to rent in were located in NSW and Queensland, with the majority registering vacancy rates well below 1 per cent.

The index scores suburbs from one (optimal renting conditions) to 100 (unfavourable renting conditions) based on factors including average rent rises, percentage of income put towards rent and vacancy rates in an area.

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Out of the top 25 worst suburbs across Australia, 11 locations in NSW and five in Queensland scored 100 per cent for renting pain.

Thorneside, east of Brisbane, was found to be the most painful suburb to rent in with vacancy rates as low as 0.6 per cent and tenants copping an average 12-month rental increase of 8 per cent.

Rental affordability in the area was recorded below the global accepted standard of 30 per cent, with tenants putting up to 36 per cent of their income towards rent.

In NSW, Greenacre South came in as the second worst-scoring suburb with rents rising up to 24 per cent in the last year and a vacancy rate of zero per cent.

To add to rental stress, tenants are spending up to 45 per cent of their income on rent.

Other suburbs causing rental pain include Port Kembla, Maroubra, Kingsford and Wetherill Park in NSW followed by Robina West on the Gold Coast.

In Western Australia, Cooloongup and Hamilton Hill scored 99 per cent on the rental pain index, as did Invermay in Tasmania.

Suburbtrends founder and property data expert, Kent Lardner, told 9news.com.au a driving factor behind rental stress in NSW was the significant shift in Sydneysiders moving towards suburbs in and around the city.

"We looked at figures from last month's data we saw a lot of south-west Sydney appearing, now we're seeing a lot of the eastern suburbs' south," he said.

Lardner said another factor included the return of students following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"If we look back a couple of years we saw a lot of students exit Kensington, and other areas, and we're seeing that those areas now have tightened right up," he said.

"So we're seeing vacancy rates tight, we're seeing rents shooting up, it's a really interesting dynamic that I didn't expect to see."

Lardner said Queensland was in a challenging situation, particularly on the Gold Coast.

"We've got Southport, which has been quite bad for some time, in and around Southport is a significant problem, Riverina is also a significant problem," he said.

"But equally, it's a fairly strong spread to the south so we have a number of suburbs in around south, around Logan in that region, things are very tough – rents have increased by in excess of 10 per cent some of the 'bad' suburbs have jumped by 18 per cent or more."

To ease the strain on renters, Lardner said the government needed to employ a mixed range of strategies, which balance supply with affordable and public housing.

"We need to be careful of what we are building, increase in supply is great but we need an increase in supply of affordable housing," he said.  

"What we need is an abundance of under $600,000, or even better an abundance of under $500,000 properties in that new housing stock to keep them affordable as rentals.

"What that would likely do is not only give you cheaper rentals… the other advantage is it would bring in a lot more investors, because most investors are attracted to $500,000 and less.

"So there would be a much larger cohort of investors out there if we can build lower-cost houses."

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A pilot has died in a light plane crash in Queensland's southern Downs region.

Police are combing through the scene of the crash at Palgrave after the aircraft burst into flames on impact just after midday.

A local property owner was the first on scene and alerted emergency services to a plane on fire.

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By that stage, the flames started to spread to grass surrounding the crash site.

The owner began to put fire breaks in place and tried to extinguish the blaze himself until fire crews arrived and were able to take over.

"Initial investigations indicate the pilot of the plane did not survive the crash and it is believed no one else was on board at the time," a Queensland Police spokesperson said.

"Investigators will work with officials from Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAUS) to determine the cause of the crash."

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Network Ten allegedly owes more than $723,000 to television personality Lisa Wilkinson who claims the broadcaster has refused to pay her legal bill after being sued by Bruce Lehrmann.

The former Liberal staffer has hit Ten and Wilkinson with a Federal Court lawsuit accusing them of defamation through a June 2021 interview on The Project with Brittany Higgins over rape allegations in Parliament House.

During the defamation proceedings, Wilkinson opted to hire separate legal representation than Ten.

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In a NSW Supreme Court lawsuit filed on Thursday, she alleges the television network has refused to pay her legal bills after she retained Gillis Delaney Lawyers partner Anthony Jefferies and barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC in the defamation case.

Wilkinson says her legal costs up to May 30 this year were around $353,000 and that she tallied up a further $370,000 in costs from that date until September 20.

She says Ten is vicariously liable to pay these legal expenses as she is an employee of the company.

In court documents seen by AAP, Wilkinson says Ten first claimed it was not liable to indemnify her for her legal costs given she had separate counsel.

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After receiving advice from high-profile barrister Bret Walker SC, Ten allegedly changed its position, saying it only had to pay the journalist's costs after the lawsuit had been concluded.

Wilkinson claims the broadcaster changed tack again after her lawyers pointed out the "vices" of this position, instead arguing about the details and reasonableness of her legal invoices.

"(Ten) has still not paid (Wilkinson) any amount in respect of any item of work or any dollar of cost and expense described in the invoices and narrations provided to (Ten)," she wrote.

The firm had also not pointed out which legal costs itemised on her invoices were unreasonable in the way she had defended the defamation case.

A spokesperson from Network Ten said that Wilkinson's legal team had asked for a lot of money.

"The lawyers engaged by Lisa Wilkinson have issued invoices for a very substantial amount of money, in excess of $700,000, and in good governance these need to be justified through due process," she said.

"In the meantime, Network Ten's focus is on defending the defamation claim brought by Bruce Lehrmann."

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Lehrmann was accused of raping Higgins in the Parliament House office of their then-boss, defence industry minister Linda Reynolds in 2019.

He has always denied the allegations.

Lehrmann has also sued the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for defamation over a joint speech by Higgins and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame at the National Press Club, which was broadcast live on the ABC in February 2022.

The former Liberal staffer claims the reports defamed him, destroying his reputation.

His criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed by juror misconduct and prosecutors did not seek a second trial due to concerns over Higgins' mental health.

A landmark report into the ACT legal system and the Higgins case by Walter Sofronoff KC made damning findings against now ex-director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold over his conduct during the case.

Drumgold has taken legal action against both the ACT government and the board of inquiry headed by Sofronoff in an attempt to overturn these findings.

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