After those floods, get set -5C for Big Freeze
FLOOD- HIT families are facing further misery this week as the autumn’s first Big Freeze gets underway with temperatures plunging as low as -5C, say weathermen.
Forecasters warned of freezing conditions across large parts of the west of England and Wales over the next few days, adding that tomorrow night is due to be the coldest of 2019 so far.
The icy blast comes as flooddevastated communities struggle with the aftermath of a lengthy deluge that has left 111 alerts still in place.
The Environment Agency warned that further river flooding was also possible in parts of South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands until tomorrow.
The Met Office said its Sheffield weather station has recorded its wettest-ever autumn.
It stated: ‘With 15 days still to go, the site has already recorded 427.6 mm of rain.
‘The previous record was set in 2000 with 425.2 mm of rain falling between September 1 and November 30 that year.’
Meteorologist Sophie Yeomans also warned of the ‘risk of seeing a very cold start’.
She added: ‘Across Southern England where there are clear skies, many places will probably drop to a little below zero to minus 1C or minus 2C in countryside areas.
‘On Tuesday morning, there could be parts of England and Wales that drop to -4C. And it could fall to -5C on some of the hills in the countryside areas of England and Wales.
‘In hilly parts of Scotland, it could get to minus double- digits. This would make it the coldest night of the autumn so far.’
Martin Christmas, of the Environment Agency, said t hat dozens of people were involved in pumping water out of flood- hit areas such as Fishlake, in Doncaster, where all 700 inhabitants we r e evacuated last week.
In an online message, he said: ‘ We are starting to think about moving from emergency rescue response into recovery – and that means looking at our flood warnings and then starting to t hink about all the inspections we need to do to look at potential repairs for banks and f l ood assets based on the loading they have received from the water in the last week.’
Bizarrely, despite the heavy rain, the Environment Agency insisted that Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk are still ‘in drought’ although the recent heavy rainfall ‘has reduced the soil moisture deficit’.
Phil Garner, from Norwich-based forecasters Weatherquest, said last night: ‘More rainfall is needed here to fully replenish the underground supplies.’