A fresh weather warning for rain has been issued covering a vast swathe of England already hit by major flooding during Storm Babet.
The Met Office‘s yellow warning says torrential rain could lead to further flooding in the East Midlands, including Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, as well as much of Yorkshire including Sheffield, Leeds and York and Humberside.
The warning, which is in place for between 3am and 4pm on Tuesday, says: “There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings. There is a small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.”
It also warned there is a chance some communities will be cut off because of flooded roads.
Storm Babet barrelled into the UK last week, leaving at least seven dead and hundreds more homeless, with 1,250 properties in England flooded.
The storm, which hit Northern Ireland and Scotland before moving south, left entire communities cut off, with the whole town of Brechin forced to evacuate.
A total of 13 areas broke their daily rainfall records for October last week, including sites in Suffolk, South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Kincardineshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Northumberland, Derbyshire and Humberside, the Met Office said.
The rain shows no sign of abating at the start of this week, with 108 flood warnings and 111 flood alerts in place across England and more rain set to pour on Monday night.
Flood warnings in place across England— (The Environment Agency)
The death toll from the storm rose to seven at the weekend, including one woman who was found dead at her home in Derbyshire.
Officers from Derbyshire Police were called shortly after 10.35am on Saturday to a flat in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, to reports of the sudden death of a woman.
Housebound Maureen Gilbert, 83, was found by her son and grandson after she attempted to flee the property while flood waters rose.
Flood high tide marks are seen over 5ft high in the front room of Maureen Gilbert in Chesterfield— (Lee McLean / SWNS)
Paul Gilbert, who found his 80-year-old mother, told Sky News: “Nothing ever seems to get done. We are building more and more houses.
“The country can’t take the amount of water that comes down. We should be able to survive for 24 hours of rain. It shouldn’t get ever this bad.
“The rivers should be clean, they should be dredged, they should be widened, they should be cleaned out.
“It is an unfortunate thing, it might only be the one person that it’s happened to.”
A flood alert remains in place in Chesterfield as more rain is expected to fall into the River Rother on Monday and Tuesday.
Babet claimed the life of another woman when she was swept away into the Water of Lee at Glen Eak, Brechin, Scotland at 1.45pm last Thursday.
Wendy Taylor, 57, was described as a “ray of sunshine” by her family who released a statement after her body was recovered by emergency services.
Wendy Taylor was described as “beautiful, kind, funny and caring”— (Police Scotland/PA Wire)
Parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire were also left underwater as Storm Babet pelted the area with heavy rainfall and the damage could take years to resolve, says local councillor Gavin Nichol.
“I can tell you the repercussions of the flooding will take months and years to resolve,” conservative councillor Gavin Nicol, who represents Brechin, said.
Members of a Coastguard Rescue Team helped residents in Brechin (PA)— (PA Wire)
“Angus Council, unfortunately, does not have the resources to do the job, it needs to to protect the residents.
“We really need finance from the Scottish Government in order to protect our residents, to rehome them. Some will be out for months, if not permanently.”
