Britain on flood alert as Met office issues warnings

The Environment Agency had issued two severe flood warnings for southwest England in addition to more than 200 warnings and alerts on Saturday evening across England and Wales. There were 13 flood warnings in Edinburgh, the Lothians and in the Borders.

At least one death was connected to severe weather when a motorist in his early 20s slid off the road in torrential rain and died in a collision in Northumberland.

Residents in the Leicestershire village of Sheepy Magna were evacuated after flooding. A Red Cross spokeswoman said an emergency response teams was helping to evacuate 13 homes.

Grand Prix fans were told not to attend the Silverstone race track on Saturday as some car parks were unusable and nearby campsites closed after a 40 millimetres of rainfall fell in a 12-hour period. Richard Phillips, Silverstone managing director issued an “unreserved apology”, adding he was close to tears.

The MFest music festival in Leeds was cancelled amid safety concerns, leaving drenched fans with soggy, useless tickets to see The Human League, Texas, and Bob Geldof, and the Taste of Edinburgh Festival cancelled its Saturday sessions because of flooding at the site.

The action at Wimbledon’s centre court was not affected, however, with fans inside protected by the roof. Those outside on rain-soaked “Murray Hill” on Friday (see photo right) managed to muddle through to watch Andy Murray become the first Brit to book a place in the final with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Flood warnings

The Met Office issued “red warnings” – which means “take action” – for residents from southwest England to the east, north and west, Wales, southwest Scotland, the Lothian Borders and Northern Ireland. Motorists were warned of risks from surface water on roads, farmers were urged to move livestock from low-lying fields while homeowners in the southwest spent Saturday fortifying property as three inches of rain threatened to cause rivers and streams to break their banks.

“We would also ask people to remember to stay away from flood water, and do not walk or drive through it, as it is often fast- moving and can contain sewage and other debris,” said Craig Woolhouse, the Environment Agency’s head of flood incident management:

Torrential rain led to flooded homes, road closures and havoc on public transport across the country on Friday with the downpours falling on ground saturated after three months of record-breaking rainfall. Almost 100 properties were flooded, the M50 was closed and flooding and landslips caused delays on major rail routes.

The London to Scotland East Coast main railway line was hit for the second time in little over a week, with services between Peterborough and Doncaster subject to 90-minute hold-ups, while other rail services faced delays, cancellations and diversions.

Many parts of the country received more than half the average rainfall for July in just one day, and the Met Office warned of continued heavy rain today. Fire crews in Dorset said they attended more than 60 flooding or water-related incidents on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the future does not seem bright. Forecasters predict inclement weather at the Olympic Games opening and more rain to come for several weeks.