Flooding Hits Areas Of England And Wales On Christmas Eve
Areas of England and Wales have been hit by flooding on Christmas Eve after heavy rain fell across the UK on Wednesday.
Fire and rescue services described being called hundreds of times after large swathes of England and parts of Wales were battered by rain.
On Wednesday, a yellow Met Office weather warning for rain stretched from East Anglia, across Leicester, parts of Birmingham and north London, and through to mid-Wales and Cornwall.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said they had handled more than 250 flood calls, “with widespread flooding throughout the county, several properties pumped out and people assisted from vehicles stranded in flood water”.
In Nottinghamshire, police were called to a landslide near some homes in Mansfield following heavy rain.
The PA news agency reported that a “small number” of properties had been evacuated.
Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service received 500 calls for help on Wednesday as the downpours hit many parts of the country.
In East Anglia and Gloucester, people saw their homes flooded just before Christmas.
Peterborough resident Patrick Lloyd told the PA news agency he woke up to find that much of his home had been submerged in water. The 27-year-old said it had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.
He added that he had to help rescue an elderly neighbour who had become trapped without power.
Lloyd said the 86-year-old woman had eventually been taken to hospital after spending around 50 minutes in the “freezing” floodwater.
“Luckily a bloke driving by saw her and got out and helped us with her. We had to get the fire service out to get her on to a board and we lifted her out for an ambulance,” he said.
The woman spent the night in hospital, Lloyd said, but he hadn’t heard about her condition.
On Thursday morning,108 Environment Agency flood warnings remained in place in England, with many along the River Avon and the River Severn.
Natural Resources Wales had also issued five flood warnings in the country.
But Alex Burkill, a meteorologist for the Met Office, told PA: “There’s been a lot of wet weather around, we’ve had a heavy rain across much of England and Wales, particularly southern parts of Wales but also further east.
“Most places in England and Wales have been really wet and we’ve seen strengthening winds too, there have been some gales in exposed parts, so quite unpleasant really.”
However, Burkill said the weather would be “fine” for many on Christmas Eve, with rainfall expected to cease overnight into Thursday.
