____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Flooding misery spread across Britain today as hundreds of people were evacuated, cows drowned, rail lines were blocked and roads turned to rivers amid torrential rain.
Police were called to the village of Sawley in Derbyshire after drivers on the nearby M1 saw cows stranded in floodwater – with four of the animals later confirmed dead.
While officers and firefighters rescued four other cows, more animals are thought to be missing – and the incident prompted a multi-agency animal welfare investigation.
Major rivers including the Thames and Trent broke their banks in places while the Environment Agency issued more than 600 flood alerts or warnings in England.
Trains on Great Western Railway, Southern, South Western Railway and Southeastern were blocked today due to a mixture of flooding, landslips and trees on the line. And some schools were closed due to flooding – including in Wiltshire and Berkshire.
In East London, 50 people were evacuated after streets turned into rivers in Hackney Wick with ten fire engines and 70 firefighters called to the scene when water started racing down the banks of the canal into residential streets and ground floor flats.
And Nottinghamshire County Council declared a major incident ‘due to rising levels along the River Trent’, telling residents in flood-risk areas to prepare to evacuate.
Environment Agency data revealed every river in England is now exceptionally high with some rivers reaching their highest flow on record, such as the River Itchen in Southampton which saw a flow double its previous record in December.
Today, there were 302 flood warnings and 332 alerts in England plus 13 alerts and two warnings from Natural Resources Wales – giving a UK total of 649. It comes as:
- 1,000 properties have been flooded this week, including hundreds overnight;
- Peaks along the River Trent could near the highest levels on record from 2000;
- A party boat which acts as a floating bar and nightclub sank in the River Thames;
- Sandown’s £100,000 racing meeting tomorrow is off due to waterlogged track.
Following 40 days of continuous rain, showers continued into this morning affecting parts of south-western and eastern areas as well as parts of Wales and Scotland.
But the weather is set to improve this weekend – with more settled, colder conditions moving in and bringing an increased chance of sunshine and frosty nights.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert covering the whole of England valid from 9am tomorrow until 12pm next Tuesday, with temperatures likely to be below average especially overnight with ice forming on the very wet ground.
The mercury could drop to -4C (25F) in rural south west England tomorrow night and -6C (21F) in rural areas along the Welsh border in Shropshire on Sunday night.
A woman pushes a child through a flooded street at Longford near Gloucester this morning
Flooding around Tewkesbury Abbey and the Gloucestershire town this morning
A man carries a child through floodwater next to the River Thames in Henley this morning
Radcliffe Residential Park in Nottinghamshire has been deluged by floodwater
Sue and Hans Oosthuizen, residents trapped by floodwater at Radcliffe Residential Park after the River Trent burst its banks following Storm Henk
Vehicles are driven through a flooded road at Aldingbourne in west Sussex this morning
Doreen Cole surveys the damage to her property this morning after heavy rain and sewer system overflows caused the River Cherwell to break its banks in Islip, Oxfordshire
A narrowboat next to a road bridge over the river in Barrow-on-Soar in Leicestershire today
Cars make it through a flooded road in Essex this morning as the severe weather continues
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rose Rambles... 