Parts of Britain battered by Storm Henk have been warned to brace themselves for yet more downpours on Thursday that could trigger another phase of flooding, travel disruption and power cuts.
The Met Office issued a yellow severe warning for a swath of southern Britain from Cornwall to East Anglia, including London, saying there was a chance of another 50mm of rain falling on already saturated ground, and there could also be hail and thunder. A cold weather alert has also been issued for the whole of England from Saturday by the UK Health Security Agency.
Hundreds of people have already been evacuated from homes or rescued from vehicles because of Storm Henk, which brought winds of more than 90mph to some areas as well as heavy rain. The Red Cross said its emergency response teams were on standby to help.
⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 3, 2024
Heavy rain across the south of England
Thursday 1200 – Friday 0300
Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/OKjV0LVPhr
Storm Henk has claimed one life – a man in his 50s from the Bath area who was killed after a tree fell on his car in Gloucestershire on Tuesday.
By Wednesday evening there were more than 700 flood warnings and alerts in place in England and Wales. There was one severe flood warning, meaning a danger to life, covering the River Ritec in Tenby, south-west Wales.
Among the communities hit by flooding was Bottleacre Lane in Loughborough, Leicestershire, where dozens of homes have been breached or surrounded by flood water and some residents were trapped in their homes.
Ivan Fletcher, whose ground floor was flooded, said: “I woke up this morning to this. There was water everywhere, and it has got worse. There are bins everywhere, rubbish, the kids were panicking. I moved my wife and the kids to Leicester with her sister out of the way, and I’ll stay here with the cats, and my eldest daughter. We had no warning at all.”
In Northamptonshire, many people were evacuated from Billing Aquadrome caravan park, where firefighters used boats to take some residents to safety.
One resident, Robert Britchford, said: “I’m worried. We all are. This is the highest it has ever been. It’s the second time in three years that it has flooded. Now we have to find hotels. They won’t let us back on until this is all sorted, so it could be a month before we come back.”
In Hall Green, Birmingham, a man told how he helped rescue a woman and her three-year-old daughter after their car got stuck in water under a bridge on Tuesday afternoon.
Liam Stych, 28, heard the woman screaming, “Help me, help me, please save my baby!” He said: “The front of her car was pointing down into the water, so I dangled off the bridge, but was careful not to put any more weight on the car in case it sank. I told the woman to remain calm and unwind her window and to hand me her child. I said to her, ‘Give me baby’s hand, I’ll get her out.’
“The woman could only get her window halfway down, so I took the baby and literally hurled her behind me and into the lap of Tia [his partner], who was on the bridge.”
He then used straps to secure the car to railings. “I then told the woman to climb into the back and get out the window. She managed to get out and we then held hands and just jumped together into the water after a count of three. It was about 5ft deep but was really strong and I dragged her out of the water.”
There was flooding in Worcester, where some homes and businesses close to the Severn were affected as the river rose. Bridges and roads in the city were closed. A man was taken to hospital after he was freed from a car filling with water in the Worcestershire village of Hollywood, and a man and teenage boy were trapped in a vehicle for about 45 minutes in Weston, Staffordshire, with water up to the seats.
As of 2pm on Wednesday, just under 2,400 homes were without power. Since the start of Storm Henk, more than 170,200 homes have had their power restored.
Raw sewage spilled from a flooded treatment works in Surrey after the River Mole burst its banks. Simon Collins, of the River Mole River Watch, said the Horley treatment works near Gatwick airport had flooded four times since Storm Ciarán hit the UK in late October.
Thames Water apologised and said it had installed a temporary pump to clear the water while it upgraded the treatment plant in the long term.
The new band of rain may bring more travel disruption as operators continue to try to get roads and rail lines back to normal.
The Met Office said it was likely to become drier and colder at the weekend and the UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert covering the whole of England from 9am on 6 January to noon on 9 January. Temperatures are likely to be below average, especially overnight, with much more overnight frost.
