More rain to come as UK left reeling
BRITAIN was left floundering in the aftermath of Storm Christoph yesterday, with widespread flooding across the country and more heavy rain expected next week.
Rivers burst their banks as some places were battered by a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours, causing hundreds of homes to be evacuated and leaving businesses devastated.
Yet Chris Tubbs, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office, said wet weather is still likely to return from the middle of next week.
York was left half-submerged after water from the River Ouse was sent teeming through the city centre.
There were similar scenes in Northwich in Cheshire.
Those living along parts of the Severn saw water levels close to last February’s washout.
Rescue teams helped people and their pets to safety, with some residents in Worcester offered temporary accommodation by the city council.
As roads became unusable, care home residents were evacuated in several areas across the Northwest.
In Wales, a helicopter crew rescued a family trapped in their home on the banks of the River Dee near Rossett,
Wrexham. A woman living nearby was also rescued by a crew who had to paddle half a mile to reach her. Local authorities in Wales will offer payments of up to £1,000 per household to support those affected by flooding, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.
Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said most of the rain had fallen earlier in the week, but the impact was felt over the weekend.
He said: “Parts of Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire saw more rain in the 48-hour period over
Tuesday and Wednesday than they would typically expect over the whole of January. Larger rivers take a while to respond to water flowing down from tributaries, so sometimes it can take two or three days for them to peak at their highest level.”
As clean-up efforts continued yesterday, rain turned to snow as the temperature plummeted, with yellow warnings for ice for much of the UK.
While sledgers enjoyed the snow on Wychbury Hill, Worcestershire, Met Office chief forecaster Steve Willington said cold air from Iceland and the Arctic would continue to bring “a mix of wintry hazards across the country”.