UK braced for more storms and floods
More than 80 flood warnings in place with heavy winds and rainfall forecast as 13,000 homes remain without electricity
- Storms bring Christmas misery
- UK floods: more than 100 people evacuated
-
Storms across Britain leave five dead and travel in chaosMet Office says widespread gales likely to develop late during Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday morning
- theguardian.com,
Flooding in Maidstone,
Kent: about 1,000 homes in south-east and south-west England have been
flooded and at one stage 300,000 properties were without power.
Photograph: Matthew Aslett/Demotix/Corbis
The UK faces the prospect of more floods and disruption on
Friday after high winds and rain were forecast to arrive from the
Atlantic in the early hours.
Weather forecasters have warned that 80mph winds and blustery showers could cause further significant flooding as thousands of families struggle to recover from the storms that preceded Christmas. About 1,000 homes in south-east and south-west England have been flooded and at one stage more than 300,000 properties had no electricity.
The Met Office said widespread gales were likely to develop late during Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday morning bringing gusts of more than 50mph inland and of 70mph to 80mph to some coastal areas and high ground. North Wales and the north of England are expected to be worst hit by high winds.
Helen Roberts, a forecaster from the Met Office, said: "The storm will push in from the west overnight, bringing wet and windy weather to much of the UK. There will be very strong gales inland at times and severe gales on the western coast.
"There will be about 10-20mm of rain for many areas, possibly 25mm in some locations. This is not a huge amount of rain but because it will be falling on very saturated land, even relatively small amounts of rain could cause further problems."
On Thursday evening, the Environment Agency had 53 flood warnings in place, most of them in the south-east (25), the Midlands (13) and the south-west (5).
A Met Office spokesman said: "The public should be aware of the potential for disruption, especially where the high winds are combined with heavy rainfall."
He said a deep area of low pressure developing over the Atlantic Ocean would bring more wet and windy weather across the UK as it tracked north-eastwards past north-western Britain later on Thursday and during Friday.
"Peak winds are thought most likely to occur during the early hours of Friday and Friday morning with the highest gusts probably being over Irish Sea coastal areas," he said.
There was some consolation as he said the likely impact was presently thought to be "less severe" relative to other recent storms to have hit the UK.
The Energy Network Association said 13,000 properties remained without power on Thursday morning after 50,000 had no supplies on Christmas Day.
UK Power Networks, which delivers power to about 8 million customers in the south-east, the east of England and London, said that by Thursday morning there were around 8,000 without power in the area.
The director of customer services, Matt Rudling, said: "All our efforts today remain fully focused on reconnecting power supplies in the quickest way possible. Extra staff are on duty, many of whom have cancelled their leave to help with the repair effort or to join our additional call centres. We know this is a very difficult time for our customers and we want to thank them for their understanding."
The bad weather also hampered the annual Christmas getaway. Some of the most chaotic scenes were at Gatwick airport, where a power outage at its north terminal led to more than 35 cancellations and long delays. Police stepped in to calm angry passengers. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said it may launch an investigation into the problems, which came two months after flights were badly delayed by a storm.
A CAA spokesman said: "We need to know exactly what happened at the airport. Once we have that information we can decide if there is any further action we need to take."
The airport said heavy rain caused flooding from the river Mole into airfield substations and the north terminal.
Weather forecasters have warned that 80mph winds and blustery showers could cause further significant flooding as thousands of families struggle to recover from the storms that preceded Christmas. About 1,000 homes in south-east and south-west England have been flooded and at one stage more than 300,000 properties had no electricity.
The Met Office said widespread gales were likely to develop late during Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday morning bringing gusts of more than 50mph inland and of 70mph to 80mph to some coastal areas and high ground. North Wales and the north of England are expected to be worst hit by high winds.
Helen Roberts, a forecaster from the Met Office, said: "The storm will push in from the west overnight, bringing wet and windy weather to much of the UK. There will be very strong gales inland at times and severe gales on the western coast.
"There will be about 10-20mm of rain for many areas, possibly 25mm in some locations. This is not a huge amount of rain but because it will be falling on very saturated land, even relatively small amounts of rain could cause further problems."
On Thursday evening, the Environment Agency had 53 flood warnings in place, most of them in the south-east (25), the Midlands (13) and the south-west (5).
A Met Office spokesman said: "The public should be aware of the potential for disruption, especially where the high winds are combined with heavy rainfall."
He said a deep area of low pressure developing over the Atlantic Ocean would bring more wet and windy weather across the UK as it tracked north-eastwards past north-western Britain later on Thursday and during Friday.
"Peak winds are thought most likely to occur during the early hours of Friday and Friday morning with the highest gusts probably being over Irish Sea coastal areas," he said.
There was some consolation as he said the likely impact was presently thought to be "less severe" relative to other recent storms to have hit the UK.
The Energy Network Association said 13,000 properties remained without power on Thursday morning after 50,000 had no supplies on Christmas Day.
UK Power Networks, which delivers power to about 8 million customers in the south-east, the east of England and London, said that by Thursday morning there were around 8,000 without power in the area.
The director of customer services, Matt Rudling, said: "All our efforts today remain fully focused on reconnecting power supplies in the quickest way possible. Extra staff are on duty, many of whom have cancelled their leave to help with the repair effort or to join our additional call centres. We know this is a very difficult time for our customers and we want to thank them for their understanding."
The bad weather also hampered the annual Christmas getaway. Some of the most chaotic scenes were at Gatwick airport, where a power outage at its north terminal led to more than 35 cancellations and long delays. Police stepped in to calm angry passengers. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said it may launch an investigation into the problems, which came two months after flights were badly delayed by a storm.
A CAA spokesman said: "We need to know exactly what happened at the airport. Once we have that information we can decide if there is any further action we need to take."
The airport said heavy rain caused flooding from the river Mole into airfield substations and the north terminal.
- COPY http://www.theguardian.com/
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