Now battered Britain faces an Arctic blast
BRITAIN is braced for an Arctic blast with plunging temperatures and snow on the way this weekend following flash floods which caused chaos yesterday.
The mercury will fall to -6C (21.2F) in parts, while bitter winds will make it feel even colder in exposed spots, say experts.
Torrential downpours and 80mph gales unleashed widespread chaos early yesterday.
A month’s rain pelted Cumbria, Wales and the North, with flash floods forcing families to leave their homes while others were left without power.
Showers turned wintry in Scotland and further snowfall is forecast there this weekend, when bitter polar winds threaten to send the mercury plummeting overnight in remote areas.
Daytime temperatures in the North will struggle to rise much above low single figures, with highs of between 5C (41F) and 7C (45F) in the South.
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: “Polar air is now coming in across the UK and it will feel much colder everywhere from Friday, the South-east being the last to lose the mild conditions.
Evacuated
“We expect overnight temperatures of freezing or below quite widely.
“We are in a north-westerly flow this weekend and again it is going to feel cold with further wintry showers, morning frosts and gales in the North.”
Last night families were still tackling the fallout from a powerful storm which struck on Wednesday night.
More than a month’s rain fell in parts of the North with 3.3in recorded at Shap in Cumbria and 2.8in in Morecambe, Lancashire, while in North Wales, 2.7in fell on Capel Curig.
Gales also topped 84mph at Capel Curig while winds of up to 80mph lashed the Midlands.
More than 70 people in Lancashire were forced to flee their homes yesterday.
Katherine Moorhouse, 35, said her young children were evacuated from their home in Galgate, near Lancaster, at 11pm on Wednesday.
She said: “The water was coming down the front of our house like a waterfall.
“The Environment Agency walked us out of the house with sticks and poles.”
Downpours turned roads into raging torrents of floodwater while railway services were suspended.
Floodwater caused havoc at Carnforth railway station in Lancashire, while water flooded the high street in Llangefni in Anglesey, North Wales.