River Ouse bursts banks in York (Image: PA)
More than 40,000 homes in England and Wales were still without power on Monday afternoon after 90mph Storm Darragh “wreaked havoc” across the UK, sparking fresh flood fears.
The fourth-named storm of the season tore down trees and initially left around 1.5million customers without power as the National Grid worked round the clock to reconnect British homes.
Two men were killed during the storm last weekend with tributes paid to Lytham Town FC football coach Paul Fiddler, in his 40s, who died when a tree fell on to his Citroen van on the A59 in Longton, Lancs, at 9am on Saturday.
On their Facebook page, the club described him as a “legend” and added he was “well loved” and a “true friend”, adding: “We would like to take the time to remember a Lytham Town FC legend Paul Fiddler.
“A well-loved coach, football player, gaffer but most of all a true friend. Paul, thank you for everything mate. Our thoughts are with the Lytham Town lads, his friends and family at this time. Rest in Peace Paul. We will miss you.”
While in a separate incident, Kher Hussain Shahin was named by a Birmingham city councillor as the man who was killed by a falling tree on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham.
Cllr Majid Mahmood paid tribute to Mr Shahin and said his thoughts and prayers were with his family. West Midlands police have not yet confirmed the man’s identity.
Don’t miss…
River Ouse bursts banks in York (Image: PA)
In what may be an unrelated incident to Storm Darragh, a woman’s body was pulled from Elton Reservoir, in Bury, Greater Manchester, on Sunday morning.
Christian Wakeford, Labour MP for Bury South, announced the tragedy. A GMP spokesman said: “At around 11.30am on Sunday, December 8, emergency services were called to a concern for welfare report at Elton Reservoir in Bury. Officers attended and sadly, a body of a woman was recovered from the water.
“A formal identification is yet to take place. Her cause of death has not been confirmed and enquiries are still ongoing.”
Mr Wakeford previously stated the full circumstances were yet to be confirmed, while police remain at the scene today with a reduced cordon. He added: “I’ve liaised with the local authorities, police and sailing club at Elton.
“I’d like to thank Bury Council, GMP, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and North West Ambulance Service for their efforts yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with the deceased and their family at this time.”
Darragh’s heavy downpours has brought fresh flooding fears for swathes of the UK, with 33 flood warnings in England – meaning it is expected – and 116 flood alerts, meaning it is possible; while Wales has two flood warnings and 12 alerts.
Don’t miss…
In York, the River Ouse burst its banks while in Pickering, North Yorkshire, river levels at Pickering Beck were 4ft 7in (1.44m), with property flooding possible when it goes above 4ft 6in (1.40m).
The highest level recorded at Pickering Beck was during the floods of June 2007 when it reached 6ft 5in (1.98m). Eighty-five properties were affected then causing about £7m of damage.
Local councillor Joy Andrews said sandbags were appearing all over the town, adding: “We’re still very worried. There are certain areas that haven’t necessarily flooded before that are flooding, but just roads so far.”
Rain and road networks have also struggled to return to normal, with train cancellations widespread on Monday morning, affecting rush hour commuters beginning of the week.
Passengers were warned to expect cancellations and delays to train services on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Scotland early on Monday due to repairs to overhead line equipment in Polesworth, Warwickshire.
Chris Baughan, Network Rail’s West Coast South route operations manager, said: “Storm Darragh has wreaked havoc on the railway this weekend and we are very sorry to passengers for the disruption to train services this morning on the West Coast Main Line as frontline teams continue with emergency repairs and the clean-up.
“Our engineers are working as fast as we can to stabilise a critical piece of the overhead line equipment in Polesworth.
“We are asking passengers to check before they travel as some morning journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North West and Scotland may take longer or have altered timetables.”
Transport for Wales said all railway lines are blocked on 11 routes, such as between Swansea and Milford Haven, between Swansea and Shrewsbury, between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury, and between Chester and Holyhead.
West Midlands Railway was unable to operate on the line serving Bromsgrove, Redditch, Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley because of damage to overhead electric wires.
While damage by Storm Darragh also closed the line between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
River Ouse bursts banks in York (Image: PA)
Great Western Railway said passengers should “not attempt to travel” between Swansea and Carmarthen until at least noon, or on the Looe, St Ives and Gunnislake branch lines in Cornwall.
In Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said about 1,500 homes remained without power after Storm Darragh with electricity restored to more than 92,000 homes.
Affected residents are being offered warm drinks and charging facilities at community centres.
Deputy Prime Minister said: “We saw two people have lost their lives and there has been major disruption.
“I know the energy secretary has been speaking about the power cuts and has been making sure that people have the power, and my thoughts are with those who have had that disruption.”
Fortunately the UK will now have a break from yellow, amber and red weather warnings with a settled week ahead.
Tuesday will have a chilly start. It will remain dry with bright spells and a few patches of cloud – while Wednesday looks set to remain dry with lots of cloud and a few bright spells.
Thursday morning will start cloudy but the skies will soon start to clear and be another dry day. Friday will see dull and cloudy skies and light showers throughout. Temperatures will be around the seasonal average.