More than 200 flood alerts were in place overnight as heavy rain and thawing snow saw large swathes of the country submerged in water – leaving thousands without power
Storm Bert raged on across the UK overnight as a “multi-hazard event” of snow, rain and strong winds saw three men killed, towns submerged in water, and more than 20,000 households left without power.
Forecasters have now warned heavy showers and melting snow that blanketed areas in the north yesterday are combining to bring widespread flooding as the storm continues to batter the country today.
More than 200 flood alerts were in place for England, Wales and Scotland overnight while Met Office yellow warnings for rain and wind, mainly focused in the south, northeast Scotland and northern Ireland, remain in place this morning.
An urgent search has been launched for dogwalker feared swept away by Storm Bert in Wales. The man is believed to have been out walking his dog in Trefriw when he suddenly missing on Saturday.
Specialist water rescue teams from the fire service were dispatched to look for the man, alongside teams from the police force and the ambulance service.
Last night, five adults and five children were also rescued from a house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen in north Wales, after a landslide battered the area. A North Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said the group were being assessed by ambulance services away from the scene “somewhere warm”.
A further landslide was reported in the area but it is understood no one has been affected. It comes as three men tragically died on the roads in three seperate incidents on Saturday.
A 34-year-old man died after his car “spun off the road” in icy conditions and ploughed into a wall in Shipley, West Yorkshire just before 1am. Hours later in a separate incident, a second man aged in his 60s was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle in Hampshire shortly after 7.45am.
Then, at around 8.20am a man died when a silver Toyota Corolla and a dark grey Hyundai i30 Active crashed on the A45 near Flore in Nottinghamshire.
Horrifying images later captured the aftermath of a road accident which saw a bus slip off the road on the A70 near Lugar in East Ayrshire. In London, a huge tree fell on Wimbledon Common, just inches away from a row of moving cars.
Thousands of homes were at the same time left without power, with 4,000 homes affected in the Midlands, south-west England and South Wales, and 27,000 customers affected in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.
In Ireland At least 60,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power, ESB Networks reported. Electricity North West later said it has restored power to 11,000 properties, while Northern Powergrid restored power to 25,600 customers affected by the storm.
Today, Storm Bert is likely to cause “dangerous coastal conditions” and disruption across southern England and parts of Wales, the Met Office said. Some communities may even be at risk of being cut off by flooded roads, particularly in the west of England.
The south-west of England will see heavy and persistent rain, with a chance that some areas over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, it added. Strong winds will also exacerbate the impact of heavy rain across the country.
A “severe weather alert” for snow in Yorkshire and north-east England was issued by National Highways yesterday as it warned of flooding. It said: “As the snow turns to rain, a rapid thaw is expected to set in as temperatures quickly rise with localised flooding possible.”
Disruption and delays also swept a number of UK airports, leaving Brits due to travel from Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford stranded on flights for as long as three hours.
British Airways was also forced to ground 36 domestic and European flights to and from London Heathrow today, including two round-trips to Glasgow, Manchester and Nice.
