Monday, January 27, 2014

UK braced for ice and more flooding

UK weather: Ice and more floods expected

A snow plough makes its way along the A66 as hill snow falls in the Northern Pennines Snow fell in parts of Scotland and northern England on Sunday

Temperatures are expected to plummet later with the Met Office warning the UK to prepare for icy, frozen surfaces.

Parts of the country are also braced for snow.

Meanwhile, some communities in England and Scotland are being warned to expect more flooding after rain swept across much of Britain on Sunday.

Overnight the Environment Agency still had 14 flood warnings in place, meaning immediate action is required, with the majority in south-west England.

A severe weather warning issued by the Met Office covered much of the country and was due to last until 10:00 GMT on Monday morning.

Forecasters said people should be aware of the potential for travel disruption as untreated surfaces freeze.

Only some western and southern coastal areas are excluded from the warning.

BBC weather forecaster Nina Ridge said: "Our main concern as temperatures dip down fairly close to freezing will be the risk of ice.

"As the morning goes on there'll mainly be sleet across any higher ground, rain at lower levels."

She said the heaviest rain on Monday would be in the northern half of the UK.

But flood warnings were in place for the Midlands, North East, South East and South West.

There were also 149 flood alerts - indicating flooding is possible - issued for every region of England.

In Scotland, river levels on the Nith in Dumfries continued to rise. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency warned Whitesands residents to remain vigilant.

Motorists on the higher routes across parts of central Scotland were warned to prepare for snow and gale-force winds.

"The public should be aware of the potential for disruption to travel as well as difficult driving conditions with a risk of blizzards at times," Traffic Scotland said.

Mulcheney under water Mulcheney on the Somerset Levels has been hit by flooding. Much of the area remains under water
Two men from the underwater search team manning a boat on flood waters Avon and Somerset Police launched their underwater search team as they tried to reach flood-hit homes
An anti-fracking campaigner in the rain and wind Further north, the severe weather was not enough to put off anti fracking protesters in Salford on Sunday

The weekend weather caused power outages in south-east England where more than 1,000 homes were left without electricity.

A spokeswoman for UK Power Networks said by Sunday evening only "one or two single premises" were still waiting to be reconnected.

In Surrey - one of the counties hit by power cuts - eyewitnesses in Chobham reported a "mini-tornado" so strong it lifted feral cats into the air like "paper bags".

There were reports of a second tornado further north in Warwickshire where some families had to seek overnight shelter at a community hall.

The BBC Weather Centre said it was unable to confirm any tornadoes had struck without expert verification.

Damaged properties in Warwickshire Eye witness reported seeing tornadoes in Warwickshire, seen here, and Surrey over the weekend

The weather caused some travel disruption in parts of the UK over the weekend.

The heaviest rainfall was in Wales, where about 22mm (0.9in) came down in 12 hours.

By Sunday Arriva Trains Wales said the train between Machynlleth and Pwllhelli, remained closed following recent flooding, while a recent major landslip means a very limited service is running between Horsham and Dorking.

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