EDEN’S HAZARD
Landslips close Cornish eco-project
LANDSLIPS forced the Eden Project to shut as almost 80 flood warnings were in force across rain-lashed Britain last night.
The eco-project, sited in a former quarry near St Austell in Cornwall, was threatened as ground saturation caused some of the surrounding banks to collapse.
The county was hit by flooding over the weekend after torrential rain on Friday caused record high water levels on some rivers.
The Eden Project said none of its “biome” domes of rare plants had been affected.
A spokesman said: “High volumes of rainwater caused several landslips. We took the decision to close as a safety decision.
“There is no indication the hothouses have been damaged and there has been no injury to any person.”
Forecasters also warned of danger from the River Severn in Gloucester to
Keswick in Cumbria. And homeowners on the Ouse in York were told to prepare defences while the River Wye was being observed from Hereford to Ross-on-Wye.
Overnight on Saturday, Tredegar in the south-east of Wales recorded the heaviest rainfall at 26.8mm in 24 hours. Rivers were expected to run at their highest last night with hopes levels will fall today.
Today is expected to be windy with sunshine and blustery showers, mainly in the west. It will turn chillier but drier on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day temperatures are set to stay around 3C as far south as Bournemouth.
Bookies make a White Christmas, snow in any major city on December 25, odds-on at 1-2. Edinburgh is 2- 1 favourite, Newcastle 3- 1, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are 4-1 and London 5-1.
Coral’s John Hill said: “It looks like we will have a White Christmas this year.”