Flood-hit Dales braced for more downpours

WEATHER: Parts of Scotland to be hit, but Courier Country set to be spared

Courier Country looks poised to escape heavy rain that could bring more chaos to flood-hit parts of the country.

Forecasters have warned of further downpours in the Yorkshire Dales, where scores of homes and business were flooded and roads and bridges washed away earlier this week.

A yellow weather warning of thunderstorms for a swathe of Scotland stretching west from Stirling, Crieff and Pitlochry had been in place yesterday, but no further warnings are in place for Tayside and Fife over the coming days.

The Yorkshire floods led to reports of sheds and oil tanks floating down roads as “100 or more” homes in the Dales were deluged on Tuesday and a bridge over Cogden Gill on Grinton Moor was washed away.

Steve Clough, of Swaledale Mountain Rescue, said his team spent more than eight hours searching properties in the area, rescuing about 10 people, but he added that North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service helped many more and estimated “100 or more” homes had been affected.

“Some homes had a metre of water in them – it was horrific,” he said.

The fire service said it received around 115 calls to flooding incidents in Leyburn and Reeth on Tuesday evening.

Pictures and videos on social media showed widespread flooding across the Swaledale area in the Yorkshire Dales.

Roads resembled rivers, with many cars stranded and fields were under water.

The Brymor Ice Cream parlour, near Masham, was caught in a freak hailstorm that left some customers with minor injuries.

The attraction posted on Facebook: “Our parlour suffered damage to the roof, power failures and some visitors suffered minor injuries.

“Our team of staff acted as quickly and professionally as possible to ensure all our visitors were made safe.”

Preparations for next weekend’s Ard Rock mountain biking festival were under way in Swaledale but the event has now been cancelled.

Farmer Raymond Caldert said: “I haven’t seen anything like this.

“We had a storm here about 20 years ago, called Hurricane Charlie. I think this has been worse.”

He added: “The bridge has gone. There’s quite a few bridges have gone.”

Train passengers also faced disruption after a landslip between Carlisle and Skipton.

Malham Tarn in the Yorkshire Dales had 3.2in (82.2mm) of rain in 24 hours, the majority in the space of four hours.

The monthly average in the area for this time of year is 3.5in (89mm).

A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for parts of central and northern England, while a similar alert for thunderstorms is in place in Scotland.

There are 10 flood warnings in place across the UK – from North Yorkshire, Lancashire and the West Midlands – with England’s Environment Agency saying local flooding is possible due to the thunderstorms and outbreaks of heavy rain.

Pictures: PA Braving the elements to photograph the remains of a bridge near Grinton that was swept away in Tuesday’s downpours.

Even a Land Rover struggled to make it along a flooded road near Grinton, North Yorkshire, following this week’s very heavy rain in the region.