Widespread Flooding In The UK, Snow Expected To Follow

[Zaune]

The Guardian

The misery continued for thousands of householders and travellers as torrential rain once again pounded down on parts of the UK this weekend. More wet weather is on the way, but the Met Office says it may be replaced by a fresh hazard – ice and snow – later in the week.

Up to 60mm of rain is expected, much of it falling on ground already flooded after days of atrocious weather across southern England, the Midlands and Wales. Alerts were in place at notorious flood-risk hotspots including Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and Upton upon Severn and Evesham in Worcestershire. Eight flood warnings were in place for the River Avon in the Midlands and four for the River Severn.

The Environment Agency believes around 400 properties in England and Wales have been flooded so far. It has sent out warnings to 9,000 homes and businesses. In all, 44 warnings (indicating flooding is expected) and 155 alerts (warning that flooding is possible) were in place as darkness fell on Saturday.

In Hertfordshire, police were searching for a man who is believed to have fallen into a canal in Watford after getting separated from his friends in fog. The 50-year-old was walking along a towpath in the early hours of Saturday. Fire crews searched the waist-deep canal but could find no sign of him.

An elderly man feared drowned in the River Thames at Sonning in Berkshire remains missing.

The south west of England and parts of south-east Wales were bearing the brunt of the rain on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Eddy Carroll, the Met Office's chief forecaster, said: "The current very unsettled run of weather is set to continue, with further spells of wet and windy weather expected across the country over the next few days. Further rain moving in from the west on Sunday continues the risk for further flooding and travel disruption.

"Strong winds may add to the potential for travel disruption, especially across southern Britain. Winds gusting to 50 or 60 mph are expected across southern counties of England with severe gale or possibly storm force winds over the English Channel."

The Met Office said it expected the weather to become drier and colder in most areas by the middle of the week, and overnight frost could bring the risk of some icy roads after the recent rain. It said that snow was possible in Scotland and northern and eastern England next weekend.

So far the only confirmed fatality has been a man who suffered a heart attack after being trapped in his vehicle when it became wedged under a bridge in Chew Stoke, near Bristol, but tales of motorists stranded in the floods continue to emerge.

Three elderly people were rescued from their car when it was swept down a swollen river near Alcester in Warwickshire on Friday. The silver Vauxhall Corsa was carried for more than 500 metres before a local farmer managed to bring it to the water's edge, West Midlands ambulance service said. Firefighters using rescue boats pulled the two women and one man out of the windows. They were treated for shock and hypothermia.

Darron Burness, the AA's head of special operations, said on Saturday: "With more heavy rain forecast across the Midlands, Wales and the south-west, road conditions in the affected areas are likely to only get worse as the ground is so saturated. Even if you think you know your local roads, don't be complacent, as flash flooding continues to be a real risk and is catching people out."

Work to clear a landslip at Mevagissey harbour in Cornwall has been completed, but the high winds and rain have meant very few fishermen have ventured out. Harbourmaster Hugh Bowles said: "Obviously fishing is completely weather-dependent, so it really does have an impact on fishermen wanting to get out on the water, particularly those with smaller, under-10-metre boats."

Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service pumped 1m litres of water from fields below the Grand Western Canal near Tiverton after it burst its banks. Network Rail said trains were likely to be suspended between Exeter and Bristol until Monday because tracks have been flooded.

John Curtin, head of incident management at the Environment Agency, said: "We would urge people to continue to be prepared for flooding, sign up for Environment Agency flood warnings, keep up to date with the latest situation, and stay away from dangerous floodwater.

"Our teams have been out around the clock over the last few days to minimise the risks and prepare for flooding, and we are continuing to deploy teams across the country to keep communities safe."

It was not only humans who were struggling with the conditions: a one-year-old monkey at the Wild Futures monkey sanctuary near Looe in Cornwall had to be resuscitated after falling ill in the wet weather.

The sanctuary has been badly hit by the conditions: trees have been brought down by the wind and parts of the centre flooded. The poor summer had already meant the charity was £60,000 worse off than last year. Hayley Dann, its fundraising manager, said: "It has been a really horrible couple of days."

Here we go again...

[LadyTevar]

I'm sorry Zuane.

[Zaune]

Doesn't affect me directly yet, thankfully; we're in the older part of town about twenty metres above the lakes. My native Wellingborough's probably got a bit of a problem if this keeps up though.

[Dartzap]

One would almost think it was winter.

Plenty of flooding in my part of the woods in the lower lying areas.

[Bedlam]

Oddly Scotland (or atleast Edinburgh) has had fairly good weather for the last week or so, some rain but nothing particularly bad. It did get rather chilly when I was walking home last night but appart from that its been good.

[Starglider]

This kind of localised flooding is quite typical for the UK; while inconvenient it is nothing like the one-in-a-century 2007 floods, which damaged over 50,000 properties.

[Hillary]

Raining? In the West Country? In Wales? In November? And then snow? In Scotland? In winter?

The weather; it's CRAZY!!!!!!

[Dartzap]

All amusement aside, my part of the world has, railwise, been cut off from the rest of the country since last wednesday. I know the south west only contributes ambrosia and wurzle tribute acts to the world, but that is taking the mick a bit.

[Teebs]

All amusement aside, my part of the world has, railwise, been cut off from the rest of the country since last wednesday. I know the south west only contributes ambrosia and wurzle tribute acts to the world, but that is taking the mick a bit.

Poor Exeter has been turned into an island had to travel there and back for work last week, the joy of replacement buses... Don't know if that's where you are, or if you're further South-West.

[Dartzap]

Yup, I'm Exeter based.

[HMS Sophia]

Over here (Lancashire), the rain is pretty steady. All its done so far is ruin the parks, which is making walking the dog a right bugger. We're above the river line though, and the flood plain is a good twenty metres down I think, so it would take an awful lot of rain to get us.

[Zaune]

Well, this just gets better and better...

Hundreds of thousands of flood victims face steep increases in their home insurance costs or risk losing it altogether, following a breakdown in talks between the government and the insurance industry.

The collapse in talks was branded "outrageous" by charity the National Flood Forum (NFF), which said being refused insurance "could spell financial ruin for thousands".

Insurers agreed a statement of principles with the government in 2008 to renew cover for flood victims, usually at a very high premium and with an even higher excess. But this agreement runs out on 30 June 2013, when householders face being refused cover unless the government and the industry come to a new agreement.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently proposed a scheme to make sure 200,000 households affected by flooding will be able to renew their policies next year. It meant any house that would normally incur a much higher premium because of flood risk would have the extra paid out of a levy on every home policy in the UK.

While the industry is not asking the government for funding for the scheme, its proposal does require it to provide a temporary overdraft facility that would be used to pay claims if there were heavy floods in the early years of the scheme before it had built up its reserves – but the government has not agreed to this.

The ABI has now called for the government to commit to a joint solution to ensure affordable flood insurance for high-risk households, describing the current state of talks as being "at an impasse".

Nick Starling, director of general insurance at the ABI, said talks had reached a crisis point: "The government has indicated it will not provide any temporary overdraft facility for the insurance industry's not-for-profit scheme, which makes it very difficult for it to go ahead.

"As a result negotiations have hit an impasse. Insurers know their customers are increasingly worried about flood cover and we will therefore continue talks with government to try and find a way forward.

David Cameron's official spokesman said the government met the ABI last week to discuss flood insurance. "We put a proposal to the ABI and it is considering that proposal," the spokesman said.

Speaking at a regular media briefing in Westminster, the spokesman declined to discuss the details of the proposal, saying only: "We want to ensure people are able to get insurance at an affordable price. There is a negotiation ongoing."

He added that teams from the Environment Agency are on the ground checking flood defences and keeping a close eye on developments.

Meetings are taking place twice daily within Defra to monitor the situation, he added.

Environment minister Richard Benyon blasted the insurance industry for a "rather demeaning" attempt to highlight negotiations over the future for flooding cover at the same time as households were besieged by flood water.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Benyon said: "It is rather a shame that it has been raised at this particular moment when there are a lot of distressed people with flooded homes. We are just concentrating flat out with dealing with this situation. What we are talking about on insurance is an absolute priority for our department, but at the moment we are dealing with flooded properties and I really want to concentrate on that."

Rain has caused severe flooding in Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, with 265 flood warnings and 288 alerts in place covering all regions in England and Wales. More than 800 homes have already been flooded in the latest bout of bad weather.

The NFF hit out at both parties. Chairman Charles Tucker said: "This is kicking people when they are down. These negotiations have been going on for over two years; for them to break down at this stage is outrageous. It's now time for action. We need to see exactly what is being proposed by both sides and knock heads together – and fast.

"Being hit with a four-figure insurance premium adds insult to injury, and being refused insurance could spell financial ruin for thousands. Every household and community hit by flooding is relying on them to ensure that flood risk insurance is available to all, is affordable, and is based on social justice."

Starling added that no country in the world has a free market for flood insurance with high levels of affordable cover without some form of government involvement.

[Hillary]

All amusement aside, my part of the world has, railwise, been cut off from the rest of the country since last wednesday. I know the south west only contributes ambrosia and wurzle tribute acts to the world, but that is taking the mick a bit.

And Doombar, don't forget the Doombar.

The rail line goes right along the coast down there, doesn't it. A lovely train journey, except when the weather's bad. I've had the sea spray hitting the side of the train before now, between you and Plymouth.

I'm guessing it's the bit alongside the M5 that's the problem now though. Hope you get renewed with the mainland soon.

[Dartzap]

Yet another landslide resulted in me having a four hour journey home. I propose nuking Dawlish from orbit, that'll give it some stability! At least I managed to flirt with a cute Columbian to pass the time.