Teens rescued from raging waters
Carmarthenshire spent six hours pumping water to save a 92-year-old man’s home. Local councillor Rob James said: “This weather in August doesn’t reassure us when our area is prone to flooding in winter.
“So the fact that we’re dealing with this now shows that climate change should be taken seriously.”
Meanwhile trains between Cardiff and Swansea were cancelled as the tracks flooded, and the race meeting at Chepstow was called off, too.
Seaside towns, including Seaham in County Durham, were deserted as the wind whipped up huge waves.
Last night the Environment Agency had 18 “be prepared” flood alerts in
TWO teenagers who went wild camping during Storm Francis were rescued while surrounded by a “raging torrent of water”.
The stricken pair set up camp on an island by a river in Dartmoor but as the storm set in water levels rose all around them.
They were spotted pleading for help by two kayakers who raised the alarm, and a major rescue operation involving 30 emergency specialists was launched.
Neither of the young men were harmed but members of the Dartmoor Rescue team said they were “very lucky”.
The pair from Ashburton, Devon, had set off to go wild camping on Monday but when they woke up the following day they found themselves cut off and without any mobile phone signal. Incident
place, although the Met Office issued no weather warnings. Forecasters offered some respite as the storm passed, leaving calmer weather today but a cooler bank holiday weekend.
Tomorrow is expected to be wet across England and Wales, with more rain on Saturday in eastern areas. Sunday is due to be mainly dry with sunny spells.
Met Office forecaster
Craig
Snell said: “Francis has pretty much moved offshore and it’s now just a slow gradual improvement.”
Before the storm left, it blew a lorry on to its side on the M74 in Lanarkshire, Scotland, while fallen trees caused problems on the A85 at Dalmally and the A82 at Tyndrum.
Downpours also caused disruption across Northern Ireland, where motorists were urged to seek alternative
Stranded ...a rescue team battles against fast flowing water to bring two teens safely to land
said that the river is known to rise rapidly in bad conditions, and the two young men could easily have been stranded for days if they hadn’t been spotted by the kayakers.
routes after the Shimna River burst its banks. Network Rail said speed restrictions were in place on several rail routes, including Avanti West Coast, Northern, TransPennine Express andTransport forWales.
The Severn Bridge was closed due to winds, Highways England said.
Francis came on the back of Ellen and is the first time the Met Office has had two named storms in August.