Even royalty can't escape the weather! Prince Philip braves the rain at Sandringham as blizzards, rain and even a TORNADO hit Britain... and forecasters warn there is worse heading our way
- - Met Office issues amber weather warning and Environment Agency has 142 flood alerts
- or warnings out
- - Somerset County Council has declared a 'major incident' for all areas affected by flooding
- in the county
- - Risk of flooding will continue in Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, West
- Berkshire and Surrey
- - Met Office says rain across Britain will be accompanied by strong winds and rain
- accumulations of 0.8in
- - 'Mini-tornado' sweeps through Surrey and Sussex - bringing down trees and even lifting
- cats in the air
By MARK DUELL
|
Forecasters today warned of more heavy rain for parts of Britain as flood-hit communities in the South West braced themselves for further problems.
The Met Office issued an amber warning of severe weather, while the Environment Agency has 130 flood alerts and 12 flood warnings in place.
Somerset County Council has declared a ‘major incident’ for all areas affected by flooding in the county - especially on the Somerset Levels.
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Whiteout: There were blizzards in North Yorkshire, where people tried to walk their dogs outside the exposed Tan Hill Inn near Reeth in
the Yorkshire Dales.
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Wind and snow: The conditions were horrendous in North Yorkshire where people tried to walk their dogs outside the exposed Tan Hill Inn
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Examining the scene: Jan King, manager of the Tan Hill Inn, peers out of a snow covered window near Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales
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Taking a picture: A tractor fitted with a snow plough makes its way through land outside the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales
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Hard to see: The storm system brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow across Britain today, including blizzards in North Yorkshire
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Travel: A cyclist braves the snowy conditions near Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, where a car crashed into a tree after coming off the road
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Eye of the storm: A weather map showing Britain under a veil of white at 9am this morning as the country suffered strong winds, heavy rainfall and snow blizzards
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Worries: A farmer checks the depth of flood water in Thorney, Somerset. Heavy rain across the region is feared to lead to more flooding
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No way in: A flooded road leading into Muchelney from Thorney, Somerset, which has been badly hit by the heavy rain
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Isolation: Members of the Avon and Somerset Police Underwater Search Unit inspect a submerged abandoned car as they head to the village of Muchelney in Somerset
The risk of flooding from groundwater will also continue in Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, West Berkshire and Surrey into next week.
The Met Office said that rain across Britain would be accompanied by strong winds, and rainfall accumulations of up to 0.8in were expected.
Meanwhile, witnesses said a ‘mini-tornado’ swept through Surrey and Sussex, bringing down trees, damaging homes and even lifting cats in the air.
It reportedly hit Chobham, Surrey, at 5pm yesterday. Local resident Shirley Blay said: ‘It was a mini-tornado, I can't describe it as anything less.'
She told BBC News: ‘We've got four feral cats in the yard and they were being lifted off the ground - they just went round like a big paper bag.’
UK Power Networks said some 13,000 customers were left without power in Kent, Sussex and Surrey on Saturday night, but this has since fallen to 1,100.
BOLT OF LIGHTNING APPEARS TO STRIKE JUST FEET AWAY FROM AEROPLANE ON RUNWAY
This is the moment a bolt of lightning appeared to strike just feet away from an aeroplane as it was on a runway at an airport.
The image was captured yesterday by photographer Paul Bunch, who works part time at the Wolverhampton's Halfpenny Green airport control tower.
The 43-year-old said: ‘I couldn't believe when I got the picture, it really looks like the plane has been hit by the bolt, it is incredible.
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Spectacular: This is the moment a bolt of lightning apparently struck just feet away from a plane as it was on a runway at Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green Airport
‘I saw a few flashes at first and then decided to get my camera out. The pilot was visiting from another airfield.
‘He was turning his plane around on the runway when the winds changed direction. This is the closest lightning bolt I have seen to a plane before.
‘It really did look like it was going to be trouble for the pilot, but luckily it wasn't. For me, it was just a matter of being at the right place at the right time.’
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Wet: The Duke of Edinburgh (left) braves the elements as he attends church in the rain at Sandringham,
Norfolk, while the Queen is driven away after the service (right)
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Struggling: The umbrella of a member of the royal party is destroyed by the wind on the way to attending St Mary Magdalene Church for the Sunday service
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Dramatic scene: The aptly-named Wet Sleddale Reservoir in Cumbria where water overflows down the 70ft-high dam wall, creating a wall of water
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Beautiful landscape: The Wet Sleddale Reservoir's wall of water, near the village of Shap in Cumbria, is a dramatic scene that can be viewed for miles around
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Splashing down: Stormy weather today and heavy rain has seen rivers the flooding of homes and farmland, and now reservoirs
overflowing with the volume of water
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Rainfall: A man on a scooter and two people on a morning walk brave the wet conditions during
heavy rainfall in Regents Park, North London
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On the move: Traffic makes its way along the A66 as hill snow falls in the Northern Pennines
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Getting through: A snow plough makes its way along the A66 as hill snow falls in the Northern Pennines. The Met Office has issued an amber warning of severe weather
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Treacherous conditions: A police vehicle makes its way along the A66 into Cumbria near a 'side winds' warning sign as hill snow falls in
the Northern Pennines
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Splashing down: After the recent rainfall, water pours over the High Force waterfall in Middleton-in-Teesdale in the North Pennines
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A mini-tornado ripped through homes in the Galley Common area of Nuneaton, damaging houses and blowing off rood tiles
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The strong wind that tore through Galley Common destroyed this garage - tearing off its roof
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Neighbours took shelter in a nearby community centre while others surveyed the damage
Many Somerset communities are still coming to terms with the flooding that hit the county at the beginning of January and now face more woe.
Somerset County Council deputy chief executive Pat Flaherty said: ‘Our priority has to be to keep people safe.
‘We are doing everything we can to do this and we believe that declaring a major incident shows just how urgent the situation is for many of our residents and communities.
'We are doing everything we can to do this and we believe that declaring a major incident shows just how urgent the situation is for many of our residents and communities'
Pat Flaherty, Somerset County Council
‘The reason we are taking this action is the long-term nature of the issues we are facing and to enable a consistent approach to the way that we deal with them.’
The council will continue its help for people affected by flooding, which includes a boat service for the cut-off community of Muchelney and Thorney.
It is also providing a pontoon bridge at Langport, supporting farmers providing a tractor service and evacuating residents when necessary.
Avon and Somerset Police launched their underwater search team today in a bid to use their boat to reach flood-hit homes in Mulcheney on Somerset Levels.
The team also gave fire prevention and health and safety advice to residents who have been affected by the floods.
Much of the area remains under water and more rain is expected to fall overnight and residents are being told to prepare for further flooding.
A Met Office forecaster said: ‘More heavy rain will spread east across the area on Sunday.
'Given the current disruption on the Somerset Levels, the public should be prepared for further flooding.’
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Cut off: A view of flood water surrounding the village of Muchelney in the Somerset levels, which has been isolated since early January
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Getting around: A humanitarian boat helps ferry locals from Langport to Muchelney in Somerset (left),
while a resident uses the temporary pontoon near Langport (right)
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Blaze: Damage to two homes in Stourbridge, West Midlands, that were struck by lightning, starting a fire in the roofs of the properties
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Debris: Both homes in Stourbridge were evacuated after the blaze which ignited after a direct hit from lightning during a storm yesterday
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Fierce winds: A car is crushed by a fallen tree in the Hartford area of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, after storms hit the region
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Broken: Eyewitnesses reported seeing a mini-tornado in the grounds of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, with 68 trees down and damage to homes
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Fallen over: A mini tornado took down a tree which damaged this house in Crawley, West Sussex, as firefighters worked to move it away
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Tricky conditions: Groundsmen tend to the pitch at Bramall Lane following heavy rain before the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Sheffield United and Fulham
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Coming up: Forecasters today warned of more heavy rain for parts of Britain as flood-hit communities in the South West braced themselves for further problems
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Warnings: The Met Office said that rain across Britain would be accompanied by strong winds, and rainfall accumulations of up to 0.8in were expected
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Mapped out: The Environment Agency has 130 flood alerts and 12 flood warnings in place, with the majority in the South-West of England
The Environment Agency said that communities across southern England should again prepare for possible flooding as the Met Office forecasts further heavy rain for tomorrow through to Tuesday.
TWO WALKERS HIT BY LIGHTNING
Two walkers were recovering from burned feet today after being hit by lightning near the summit of a mountain in Wales.
They rang 999 after the scare close to the near-3,000ft top of Aran Fawddwy, a peak in south Snowdonia between Bala and Dolgellau.
The men, friends aged 58 and 37 from Buckinghamshire, had their feet burned and socks singed in the frightening episode.
Members of a mountain rescue team were joined by an RAF helicopter based at Valley in Anglesey, whose winchman Sgt Dave Currie was lowered on to the mountain. Then, with team members, he managed to reach the pair.
One was carried down to below the cloud level, and the other was able to walk. Then they were winched into the Sea King and flown to hospital at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.
Sgt Currie said: ‘The men thought the lightning had struck a couple of feet from them.
'They took their walking boots off, their socks had been burned and they had blisters and burns on their feet. It was frightening for them but they were very lucky.'
A spokesman said: ‘With the ground already saturated, rivers and groundwater levels remain very responsive to rainfall, particularly on the Somerset Levels.
‘Environment Agency teams continue to operate up to 62 pumps 24 hours a day to drain an estimated 65million cubic metres (2.3billion cubic ft) of floodwater off an area of the Levels spanning 65 sq km (25 sq miles).’
Yesterday, strong winds caused damage to houses and forced residents to be evacuated from a street in a Warwickshire town.
Bricks and roof tiles were dislodged from houses on Hickman Road in Nuneaton, as high winds hit the area.
Many people dialled 999 as the storm swept through the street but nobody was hurt, Warwickshire Police said. Several residents were given shelter in the local community hall.
A force spokesman said two of the houses on Hickman Road were badly affected with extensive damage to the roofs, three further properties have significant damage, and others have had roof tiles blown off.
Fire, police and ambulance services were sent to assess the damage and check for casualties.
Superintendent Martin Samuel of Warwickshire Police, said, ‘Thankfully, despite our initial fears, no-one was injured as a result of the damage to the properties.
‘The community hall at nearby St Peter's Church was made available for people to go to while structural engineers from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council carried out safety assessments on the houses that had been damaged.’
Some residents were not expected to be able to return to their homes last night.
A spokesman for Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said: ‘We are currently working to clear the debris in the area.
‘We will also have officers from the council at St Peter's Church Hall on Sunday morning between 10am and 11.30am to offer further advice, help and support to anyone affected by the storm damage.’
Elsewhere in the county the emergency services and the highways agency have been working with local councils to deal with a number of other storm related incidents including trees which had been brought down by the strong winds, and flooded roads as a result of the heavy rain.
DEDICATED WORSHIPPERS CUT OFF IN SOMERSET FERRIED THROUGH FLOODWATERS TO CHURCH BY TRACTOR
Dedicated worshipers were ferried into the floodwaters to a church cut off for more than three weeks by tractor today.
The villagers of Muchelney, which lies in between Taunton and Yeovil in Somerset, have been cut off since January 2 after the access roads flooded.
More than 100 residents have been relying purely on boats to get in and out of the village, which is surrounded by more than 3ft of water.
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Heavy rain: Thorney residents use a tractor and trailer to get to their local Sunday church service in the nearby cut-off village of Muchelney, Somerset
But today parishioners from nearby village Thorney borrowed a tractor and trailer to join their neighbours at the Church of St Peter and St Paul.
They faced the 0.6 mile-long stretch of deep murky water to show community spirit in the face of the gloomy weather and forecast rain.
The Environment Agency has eight flood warnings in place for the region, which mean flooding is expected and immediate action is required.
Householders were preparing to evacuate their homes as more heavy rainfall struck flooded communities on the Somerset Levels.
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Going places: Thorney residents - including George Wakeley, 8, Rebecca Curtis (centre right), 3, and Tabatha Curtis, 1 (red jacket, right) - use a tractor and trailer
Resident David Murray-Smith prepared more sandbags at his home in Moorland as the water invaded his garden.
His family has come down to help with the probable evacuation. He said: ‘We are getting ready to evacuate. We are putting things on bricks inside.’
This week tides will start to rise again in the Bristol Channel, limiting the capacity of rivers to drain the area - and causing even more problems.
Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said: ‘There is a very real risk of catastrophic flooding on a scale not seen for more than a century unless we act swiftly and decisively.’
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