United Kingdom and Ireland begin storm clean-up

High winds and further torrential rain are expected in the already flood-ravaged north of England today, with people in some areas urged by officials to immediately evacuate their homes.

He refused to criticise the EA chairman Sir Philip Dilley who was in Barbados during the floods, saying engineers were the ones dealing with the situation.

Britain’s Environment Agency said as of 4:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, there were three severe flood warnings, 46 flood warnings and 84 flood alerts in place across England and Wales.

A caravan park inundated by flood water after the River Nidd burst its banks in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

A Royal Navy helicopter also had to be deployed in Dailly in Ayrshire when a bus was stuck in the water.

A Yellow alert for strong winds has also been issued for much of Scotland which could see gusts of 70-80 miles per hour and coastal overtopping in northern and western parts of the mainland and islands.

Meanwhile, road teams from BEAR Scotland were monitoring north-east and north-west trunk roads for any issues caused by the storm, warning of a landslip at the A835 at Garve in the Highlands.

More than 5,500 homes in Scotland were blacked out.

Transport links also suffered after Frank rolled in from the Atlantic, with high winds shutting the Clifton Suspension Bridge for only the second time in its 151-year-old history before it was reopened around lunchtime.

A spokeswoman said: ” During a major flood incident we are able to use equipment from across the country to help communities affected by flooding.

The storm also took its toll on the Grade-II listed Victorian Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, which partially collapsed in the high winds.

People wade through a flooded street in Dumfries, Scotland. “They managed to get the town clear of flood waters a day early”.

He said the worst hit areas are likely to be those on the Irish coast and West Wales.

In Northern Ireland, thousands of homes have experienced power cuts, air passengers were delayed and fallen trees caused problems on the roads.

Sara McClintock, Communications Manager at NIE Networks said, “If homeowners or businesses are without electricity, we would ask them to let us know as soon as possible either by phone on 03457 643643 or online at nienetworks.co.uk”.

The EA had earlier warned of the potential for further significant flooding, especially in Cumbria, while floods minister Rory Stewart said a potentially “very bad situation” lay ahead.

“Based on the forecast we’ve had, we’re not expecting to see scenes like we’ve had over the past few days and not see flood defence over-topping, for example”.

“But we’re aware the ground across the north of England is absolutely saturated”.