A dramatic Highlands landscape, depicting a river rushing towards the viewer, turned brown and swollen by the surge rainwater. The river runs through a valley between misty mountains, which are dark with the storm clouds, on either side. An arched bridge over the river has been half swept away in the torrent, a man who had attempted to cross can just be seen driving his cattle back to the river bank. A few rays of light are breaking through the heavy, dark, stormclouds, lighting parts of mountains in the background. A large tree lies on its side on the right bank, its roots exposed.