The torrential rain and high winds which have lashed Britain since the weekend were caused by the worst September storm in more than 30 years, forecasters announced today.
The country was braced for further rain, strong winds and floods today as the weather system moved south, but meteorologists said the bad conditions would gradually ease off throughout the day.
• Hundreds evacuated from their homes spend the night in temporary accommodation
• Met Office figures show it has been Britain’s worst September storm since 1981
• Disruption continues on railways and roads
• Forecasters say the bad weather will ease off as it moves south.
The Met Office said an area of low pressure measuring 973 millibars was recorded near the coast of north-east England at about 9am yesterday, the lowest figure for the month since 1981. This makes it Britain’s worst September storm in 31 years.
About 400 properties have flooded across England and Wales since Sunday, including in Morpeth, Durham, Chester-le-Street and Stockton on Tees, the Environment Agency said.
The Environment Agency still had 78 flood warnings and 128 less serious flood alerts in place this morning.
Rail operators said heavy rain and flooding was continuing to cause disruption, with cancellations and severe delays on a series of services in northern England and north Wales.
The A1 near Catterick and the A66 near Darlington also remained closed today.
Martin Young, the Met Office’s chief forecaster, said: “An unusually deep area of low pressure for this time of year will continue to bring heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the UK for the next day or so.
“The rain will gradually ease away from Scotland, but further heavy rain is expected across parts of Wales and southern England, where up to 40 mm (1.6in) of rain may fall locally in places over the next 24 hours.”
Emergency services dealt with hundreds of call-outs yesterday as people were left stranded by floodwaters and overflowing rivers surged into homes and businesses.
Elderly residents at a council care home in North Yorkshire had to be carried to safety by firefighters yesterday after it became swamped by 3ft of water.
The RAC refused to recover a nurse’s car after it became stranded in floodwater because she had left her credit card in the stricken vehicle and so could not immediately pay for the rescue.
Sarah Tosh said she felt “angry” that the breakdown service, to which she has belonged for 22 years, would not help her when her Toyota cut out in deep water on a road between Yate and Thornbury in South Gloucestershire late on Monday evening.
Ms Tosh, who had just finished a ten-hour nursing shift, eventually had her car towed to safety by a passing driver in a four-by-four.
The RAC said incidents involving vehicles stuck in floodwater were not covered by breakdown cover and therefore had to be paid for in advance.
Staff at the world’s largest blood bank, in Filton, north Bristol, had to move their life-saving stocks after the building flooded overnight on Sunday.
The NHS Blood and Transplant centre said it was able to move all its blood supplies to other sites so there was no disruption to the delivery of vital products to hospitals in the region.
The Environment Agency said the flooding was caused by the collapse of a culvert believed to be owned by Network Rail.
Parts of Yorkshire and North-East England experienced a month’s rain in just 24 hours yesterday.
Forecasters MeteoGroup said Ravensworth in North Yorkshire had seen the highest amount of rain, with 131mm (5.2in) recorded since the start of the heavy downpours on Sunday night.
Rhyl, north Wales, had recorded 95mm (3.7in) of rain since Sunday, while Northern Ireland has also seen heavy downpours.
However, Andy Ratcliffe, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, sounded a note of optimism, saying: “Today is not going to be persistent rain like we have had, it will be more showery, mainly across East Anglia, down into London and across southern England into Wales.
“There will be heavy patches of rain, and even the risk of the odd thunder storm, but as we go through to this evening and over night, many places will become dry.
“Tomorrow it is likely to be a day of scattered showers.”
The Environment Agency warned that river levels will continue to rise through today along the River Ouse in Yorkshire and the River Severn, which could cause further flooding as the water moves downstream.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of people evacuated from villages in mid-Wales after floods in June have still not been able to return home.
Local councillor Gareth Davies and his family, whose house near Aberystwyth will not be habitable again until December, had to stay with friends and in student accommodation after being forced out by the flooding.
He said: “There are seven houses in our lane and only one are back and work hasn’t even started with one neighbour, but some will be back in a few weeks – so we’re all at different stages.”
