Major incidents have been declared in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire after rain brought severe flooding in the Midlands on Monday with children left trapped in a school
A flood left pupils trapped in a school as Leicestershire emergency services declared a ‘major incident’ today with multiple flood warnings.
Edenham Church of England School had to put special measure in place with the fire brigade providing services to pick up children due to flooding in the area and to avoid cars getting stuck.
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has put red alerts in place – meaning flooding is expected following heavy rainfall and melting snow. Major flooding has forced dozens of road closures and evacuations across the county as water levels continue to rise.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) declared the incident at 7.35am today due to the scale of flooding and increasing calls for help. The scale of disruption has led to widespread travel chaos across the county’s transport network. Multiple roads have been closed and rail services suspended as emergency services battle rising water levels.
Firefighters in Leicestershire received more than 200 calls and rescued 17 people on Monday morning, while authorities in Lincolnshire warned conditions could deteriorate overnight as water iced over.
A message from Edenham C of E School to parents at lunch time read: “We are currently in communication with the Fire Brigade who are in the village and the advice they have provided at this time is for parents not to collect children because they do not want any more vehicles getting stuck.
“Although the fire brigade believes the water levels are dropping at this point, they cannot predict whether it will be at a safe level in time for collection. Therefore we are now planning with the fire brigade as to arrangements for the collection of children at the end of the school day. If required the fire brigade will be providing vehicles to transport children accompanied by a member of staff to an agreed safe pick up point to meet parents.”
In North Yorkshire, police said the body of a man had been recovered on Monday from an area of flooding in Beal, near Eggborough and Knottingley. Officers said they believed he had entered the water on Saturday or Sunday, and appealed for help in identifying the man.
The incidents come as wintry conditions continued to disrupt travel and close schools, with yellow warnings for snow and ice in force across large parts of the UK. In England, the Environment Agency had 193 flood warnings in place across England at 5.45pm, meaning flooding is expected, and another 306 flood alerts indicating flooding was possible.
Judi Beresford, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s assistant chief fire and rescue officer said: “Flooding poses a serious risk to lives and property, and we urge everyone to take these warnings seriously.” In a separate statement, the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum said: “We have declared a major incident in Lincolnshire in response to the adverse weather over the past few days. We expect to see conditions worsen overnight as surface water ices over and conditions on both treated and untreated roads will be very icy and pose a risk.”
The Prime Minister also urged the public to follow advice from the emergency services, thanking them for their work and saying his “thoughts are with all those affected”. In the Commons, environment minister Emma Hardy told MPs flooding was “a personal priority” for her, adding that the Environment Agency was particularly concerned about Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.
Warning of further “localised” flooding to come over the next 24 to 36 hours, she pledged to overhaul the Government’s approach to funding flood defences “to ensure the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are taken into account when delivering flood protection.”
Further north, Northern Powergrid said more than 27,000 homes across Yorkshire and the North of England had lost power during the cold snap, with 100 customers still without power by Monday lunchtime. Elsewhere, National Resources Wales had 16 flood alerts and one flood warning in place, while the Met Office warned that snow and ice was set to cause more disruption in large parts of Scotland.
Sunday night was the UK’s coldest of the winter so far, with a temperature of minus 13.3C recorded in Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, between Ullapool and Inverness. Hundreds of schools were closed on Monday, in areas including Lancashire, Yorkshire and north-east Scotland. The Met Office advised people to be “prepared” for snow.
A warning for snow and ice is in place across most of south-west England and Wales, and parts of north-west England and the West Midlands, between 5pm on Monday and 10am on Tuesday. The same warning is in place for western and northern parts of Scotland between 4pm on Monday and midday on Tuesday, and in Northern Ireland between 3pm on Monday and 11am on Tuesday. There is a separate warning for snow in southern England on Wednesday from 9am until 11.59pm.
