Warnings as heavy rain and snow expected
FLOOD-HIT COMMUNITIES are bracing themselves with heavy rain and snow expected to bring further flooding and travel disruption to the region today.
A yellow weather warning has been issued until 3pm this afternoon covering most of Yorkshire, amid warnings of traffic delays, possible strandings of vehicles on roads and delays or cancellations to rail and air travel.
The bleak outlook follows more than a fortnight of downpours and flooding that started with Storm Ciara, continued with Storm Dennis and then kept going with the storms over the weekend.
There was further flooding on Friday night and Saturday morning on the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales, with a number of properties flooded in the Settle area.
The North York Moors and the
Yorkshire Dales could see their first significant snow of winter today, the Met Office said, with as much as 4in of snow falling on high ground above 980ft.
Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said they were expecting a “horrible mix of winteriness” with snow on higher ground and further rainfall “on areas that really don’t need any more rainfall”.
There were still 37 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, in force in Yorkshire, yesterday afternoon.
FOR THE third weekend in a row residents in towns and villages across Yorkshire have been on tenterhooks – faced yet again with the threat of flooding.
Flooding was reported across the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales on Friday night, with the village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale cut off by rising waters.
Sandra Millman, from the Crown Hotel, in the village said they had a narrow escape.
“Within two hours it came up waist-deep,” she said.
“My husband has been here all his life and he has never seen it as bad in 40 years.
“We couldn’t sleep all night thinking is it going to come in, but by the morning it had all drained back in from the fields and the roads. It was amazing.”
There were also road closures and further flooding along the Otley-Ilkley-Skipton corridor, north of Bradford. In Otley the local flood response team played a vital role, shifting 200 sandbags as water levels rose on the River Wharfe.
The team of volunteers were praised as “true heroes” with one resident recalling on social media how during the floods of 2015 they had been told they would have to wait for sandbags to come from the other side of Leeds.
She added: “Now they come to us in minutes because of you all.
“When you all spring into action in such a moment it is so reassuring and your community spirit is brilliant.
“Huge thanks to you all.” Team member and town councillor Gareth Dibble said: “People are fed up, they are tired, this is the third weekend in a row they have had threats to their houses being flooded, their gardens being flooded, having to move cars and everything.”
He said with more bad weather forecast, Leeds City Council had left them signs and barriers in case they are needed in an emergency.
Mr Dibble said people had been quick to respond to calls for help. He said: “We can put it out on social media and say we need help with sandbags and have a dozen volunteers within the hour. It restores your faith in community spirit.”
Watch manager for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Martyn Hughes, tweeted that firefighters had dealt with “multiple flood-related incidents throughout Craven including horses trapped in floodwater and properties flooding”.
Among the businesses flooded was the Watershed Mill and Visitor Centre on Langcliffe Road, Settle, where staff were mopping up yesterday after being flooded from the river Ribble.
They posted that they would remain closed until further notice due to “extensive damage”.
The famous Ingleton waterfalls trail was only half open yesterday after flooding damaged parts of the footpath.
Strong winds also forced the
cancellation of the Jorvik Festival’s Battle Spectacular in York on Saturday evening, with organisers unable to put up barriers or raise the lighting rigs.
Today more than half an inch of rain could fall as the latest weather front pushes eastwards in the early hours of the morning, with a yellow warning issued that covers most of Yorkshire, which will see snow fall on higher ground.
In York, river levels are expected to rise slightly above those seen last week after Storm Dennis, peaking this evening between 4.5 and 4.6m.
Council leader Keith Aspden said although slightly higher than last week, they are “within the levels we can defend”.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Further rain is expected over the weekend and during Monday, this heavy and
persistent across parts of the north of England.
“This could lead to further flooding, particularly for rivers draining the Pennines, and for parts of the Midlands and the City of York where this rain will fall on saturated catchments where river levels are already high.
“River levels remain high and ongoing river flooding is probable for the River Severn this weekend and into next week.”
Further rain is expected over the weekend and during Monday.
An Environment Agency spokesman.