Storm Babet chaos: Fresh ‘risk to life’ flood warnings issued after heavy rain and 80mph winds batter Britain – with nine dead, homes evacuated and trains cancelled… before country is blasted by ice
- Communities in Retford, Nottinghamshire, told to prepare to evacuate
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Fresh ‘risk to life’ flood warnings have been issued in Nottinghamshire as residents of towns near a river at record height were told to prepare to leave their homes.
On Sunday, Nottinghamshire County Council declared a major incident in the town of Retford, which sits on the River Idle, and has advised residents of some 500 homes to leave. Water levels on the Idle hit 2.56m as of 12pm on Sunday – the previous record was 2.4m in 2007.
As of 3pm, two severe ‘danger to life’ flood warnings and 160 standard flood warnings – meaning flooding is ‘expected’ – are in effect across England; in Scotland and Wales, one flood warning apiece remains in effect.
And even as the storm abates, forecasters have already issued a fresh weather warning as a cold snap looks set to bite overnight into Monday.
At least nine people are feared to have died during the storm, including a number of road crashes where the weather is believed to have played a part in the tragedy.
RETFORD: A woman in wellington boots carries a suitcase as she evacuates from her house in the Nottinghamshire town, where locals have been told to leave if asked to do so
RETFORD: Two ‘danger to life’ alerts have been issued across the Nottinghamshire area after local rivers reached record new heights
Just under 200 flood alerts remain in place across England today as the great clean-up begins – with a new severe flood alert issued in Nottinghamshire
Flood warnings remain in effect across northern Scotland (left) and in both northern and southern Wales (right)
CATCLIFFE: Houses sit up to their windows in water after heavy rains caused the nearby River Rother to burst its banks, just outside Sheffield
RETFORD: A man carries his dog through the flood-stricken streets of the Nottinghamshire town, after the county council advised locals to prepare to evacuate on Sunday
READ MORE: Storm Babet batters Europe: Chaos on the continent as heavy rain and gale force winds pound France, Germany and Scandinavia
In Retford, emergency services have been seen speaking to people on their doorsteps as water pours into residential streets up to knee height.
Nottinghamshire County Council said in a statement: ‘These Severe Flood Warnings have been issued because of flooding in Thrumpton, Retford, as a result of Storm Babet.
‘Residents in all of these areas are being asked to prepare to evacuate their homes. Emergency services are supporting residents to evacuate where needed. Please make sure you leave your homes when directed to do so.’
The Met Office has issued a yellow ‘be aware’ warning for ice covering most of mainland Scotland as well as parts of northern England; the forecaster warns Brits to expect ‘icy patches’ and to take care to avoid ‘slips and falls on icy surfaces’.
The yellow weather warning stretches from the very top of Scotland down to Corbridge, around 20 miles west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and runs from 9pm on Sunday until 9am Monday.
The warning covers major Scottish cities including Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow and Stirling – as well as the Angus and Aberdeenshire regions, which have been devastated by flooding during Storm Babet.
Temperatures will hover just above freezing in the Highlands and Borders regions overnight, according to the forecaster; further south, overnight temperatures will be a relatively balmy 12-13C.
While Babet has passed, the storm has flooded out Britain’s rail network; Environment Agency bosses say that flooding is likely to last until Tuesday.
Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, says teams have been sent to the worst-affected areas to operate flood barriers and put up temporary defences, including pumps to get rid of flood waters.
She added: ‘Following persistent, heavy rain from Storm Babet, severe river flooding impacts are probable in parts of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire…into Sunday.
‘Ongoing flooding is probable on some larger rivers including the Severn, Ouse and Trent through to Tuesday.
‘We also advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.’
LEOMINSTER: Flooded fields surround the roads and railways of the Herefordshire town after the River Lugg burst its banks
A yellow weather warning for ice has been issued for overnight Sunday by the Met Office, less than 24 hours after the abatement of Storm Babet
Temperatures will dip close to zero in the Highlands and Borders regions overnight – prompting the Met Office to issue a yellow ‘be aware’ weather warning for ice
SHEFFIELD: Cars sit abandoned in floodwaters in the village of Catcliffe in the early hours of Sunday morning
CATCLIFFE: A view from above of the South Yorkshire town, where residents have been evacuated from their homes
RETFORD: A Land Rover driver churns his way along waterlogged roads in the Nottinghamshire town
CHESTERFIELD: A worker begins clearing the drains after floods washed out much of the Derbyshire town
READ MORE: Incredible moment woman commutes home by KAYAK during Storm Babet as she passes sunken car with heavy downpours sparking deluge
In Brechin, east Scotland, where hundreds of people have been evacuated, local councillors say some residents are unlikely to get home before Christmas after river levels surged to more than five metres.
Local authority Angus Council had spent millions on a flood defence scheme for the region that was meant to provide protection against a ‘one-in-200 year’ flood; the works for the 3.8m barriers were completed just seven years ago.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Show, local Tory representative Gavin Nicol said: ‘There’s sludge and silt everywhere – it’s contaminated sludge and silt – and it’ll take a fair bit of cleaning up.
‘It’ll be an extensive period – it’ll take a fair bit of sorting…these houses won’t be ready by Christmas.
‘I’m hoping the First Minister will take pity on us and give us some more money for Angus Council.’
Brechin residents who returned to their homes on Sunday found ‘mind-blowing’ devastation caused after the South Esk burst its banks.
David Stewart, 68, said: ‘It’s just absolutely mind-blowing. The devastation looks even worse than I thought.’
Brian Petrie, 66, returned to find the lower floor of his house covered in silt and mud, with the carpet squelching as he walked and the fridge upended.
His 92-year-old mother had to be rescued, as he recalled: ‘The Coastguards and paramedics got her down the stairs in a stretcher and took her in a dinghy up to the ambulance.’
George Wilson, 66, returned to find ‘awful’ damage in his home, adding: ‘I’m still trying to get my head around it.’
The Energy Network Association (ENA) said a ‘small handful’ of homes will still be without power on Sunday after around 100,000 customers were affected by power cuts.
Four deaths have been officially confirmed as being linked to Storm Babet by police, but others are believed to be connected to the inclement weather.
In Scotland, a 57-year-old woman was swept to her death in the Glen Esk valley in Angus on Thursday; a 56-year-old man was killed by a falling tree close to nearby Forfar later the same day; and a man in his 60s was swept away by flood waters in Shropshire on Friday.
Elsewhere, police are said to be treating a crash in Halifax that killed a 19-year-old man and a pile-up on the M4 that killed two women, both on Friday, as being related to dismal road conditions.
A man and a woman were killed after their car plunged from a bridge near Skipton, North Yorkshire, on Saturday afternoon; officers have not stated whether the car left the bridge as a result of the stormy winds and heavy rain.
Police in Derbyshire, where a major incident was declared amid widespread flooding, say the death of a woman in her 80s in Chesterfield was also likely linked to Storm Babet – taking the total death toll to nine.
Throughout Sunday, disruption is expected on LNER, Scotrail, Northern, Transpennine Express, Greater Anglia, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services.
HOLYWELL: Flooding on the high street threatens to encroach on a local pub in this Cambridgeshire village on Sunday morning
DUNDEE: A car sits in the remains of a collapsed bridge at Fowlis, near the Scottish city, after Storm Babet. Locals said the occupant was rescued by a farmer
SANIACRE: An entire neighbourhood of the Derbyshire town sits partially submerged after severe flooding. Fire and rescue services have declared a ‘major incident’ in the county
YORK: Flooding along the River Ouse in the centre of York early on Sunday, where waters are continuing to rise
SOUTH SHIELDS: The sun rises over the Tyne and Wear town’s lighthouse, which had its top ripped off by huge waves during Storm Babet, on Sunday
DERBY: Fields near Derby rugby club sit underwater after the River Derwent burst its banks
BRECHIN: Angus Council worker Gav Stewart proudly shows off a fish he found among the detritus after the River South Esk burst its banks and flooded the eastern Scottish town
READ MORE: ‘King’s Cross was more dangerous than Jordan’: Passenger with Parkinson’s disease describes scenes at London station amid Storm Babet cancellation chaos
LNER has advised its customers to not travel north of Edinburgh, and there are no services operating from the city towards Aberdeen or Inverness.
ScotRail said routes remain closed between Aberdeen and Dundee, and Aberdeen and Elgin.
The Scottish train operator said they can not run services on the Fife Circle route, or between Inverness and Wick, Thurso and Kyle of Lochalsh.
Services are also disrupted across parts of Yorkshire and East Anglia with some routes still flooded, Network Rail said.
LNER said urgent repairs are taking place at Plessey Viaduct and there is a limited service between Morpeth and Newcastle.
Caledonian Sleeper services are said to be running as normal between Scotland and London – but there is a ‘high probability’ of them being affected.
Routes across the East Midlands have been suspended or partially suspended until Monday; East Midlands Railway says it will honour tickets bought for the weekend until the end of Tuesday.
In a statement published on its website on Sunday morning, National Rail said: ‘Disruption to trains is expected on some routes until the end of the day. Please check your whole journey before travelling.’
Clean-ups are underway in communities across the country as the flood waters finally began to subside.
Derby City Council said they are seeing record-breaking water levels in the River Derwent – which left much of the village of Sandiacre underwater – and warned that cleaning up after the floods could take several days.
Wedding photographer Harvey Morgans, who captured dramatic footage of the submerged streets, was left stunned by what he saw on his drone.
He said: ‘It’s affected everyone on the street, devastated a lot of people’s houses and livelihoods.
‘The knock on effect over the next few months – people replacing cars and fixing property – will be massive.’
It comes as 59 people and 12 animals were rescued from flooded homes in neighbouring Stapleford.
In Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 120 homes have been evacuated in the Catcliffe area after devastating flooding.
The River Rother reached heights of 30.44m, exceeding the level it reached in 2007 when the area was ravaged by disastrous floods.
Derbyshire Fire Service said more than 100 people had to be rescued in the county on Friday, including 20 people at a care home in Duffield.
In Wales, a severe flood warning had been issued for the village of Llandrinio, Powys, as well as isolated properties in the Severn-Vyrnwy confluence area.
In the North Sea, more than half the staff manning a drilling platform were airlifted to other sites after several of its anchors came loose during Storm Babet.
LONDON: Passengers pack out King’s Cross Station on Saturday after train operators cancel services. The terminal was later temporarily closed while police controlled the crowds
DERBY: A youngster on a bodyboard makes the most of the unusual weather conditions
CHESTERFIELD: A man gets a piggyback from a rescue worker to escape floodwaters
HORNSEA: A fallen tree lands in the garden of East Yorkshire resident Tessa Coombes during Storm Babet
ALCONBURY: A local resident goes to extreme lengths to get a photo of the devastation in Cambridgeshire on Saturday
INVERURIE: Emergency workers go door to door speaking with residents and distributing sandbags in the Aberdeenshire town over the weekend
READ MORE: Storm Babet leaves entire village underwater as floods devastate swathes of Britain – with travel disruption expected to continue today
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Coastguard helicopters were called upon to move 45 non-essential workers from the Stena Spey to neighbouring platforms and to Sumburgh on the Shetland Islands on Saturday due to the incident.
The rig is located around 146 miles east of Aberdeen. Stena Drilling said four out of eight anchors became detached from the drilling unit because of the severe weather.
Searches are continuing for a man reported missing to police on Friday who is said to have been trapped in a vehicle in floodwater in Marykirk, Aberdeenshire.
Rest centres were set up in Angus with more than 50 people opting to stay in one in Brechin after they were evacuated from their homes as the River South Esk breached the town’s flood defences early on Friday morning.
Residents of nearby Bridge of Dun had to be airlifted via helicopter, while in other areas people stranded by flood waters were rescued by boats, including canoes.
Scottish justice secretary Angela Constance, who chaired a government meeting on the country’s ‘exceptional’ rainfall on Saturday, said: ‘The storm has caused significant damage and while flooding is still occurring, it is not expected to be as serious as over the last 24 hours.
‘The impact, however, will be felt in communities for some time to come.’
National Rail has warned of major disruption on the railways until the end of the day due to both flooding on the railways and the weather displacing train crews – meaning some services have been unable to run at all.
Police closed down King’s Cross Station yesterday due to overcrowding, as rail bosses begged passengers to use different terminals amidst the chaos.
Temporary crowd control measures were instated by police before eventually being lifted at around 5pm – even as operators advised passengers not to travel.
Passenger John Hinson, who has Parkinson’s disease, said he felt safer holidaying in Jordan – which lies between Syria and Israel – for the last two weeks than he did arriving at the London terminal.
He told PA: ‘It was just so dangerous. I have Parkinson’s and I have difficulty walking, so my wife went to ask for assistance and all assistance was cancelled.
‘We were basically told that if we cannot get the train, we need to cancel and come back again.’
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