Following the severe weather brought by Storm Ciara over the weekend, the Environment Agency is advising communities to remain vigilant and stay safe over the coming days.
Storm Ciara brought high winds and heavy rain to much of England over the weekend, with some parts of Cumbria receiving nearly three quarters of February’s rain in just 24 hours, leading to rivers bursting their banks.
Currently around 550 properties are believed to have been affected by flooding as a result of the severe weather. However, approximately 26,000 properties have been protected by flood defences across England.
As of 2.30pm on 10 February there are 97 flood warnings and 204 flood alerts in place across the country as the tail end of Storm Ciara brings further strong winds, coastal spray and high river levels to some areas today.
Caroline Douglass, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Following the widespread heavy rain brought by Storm Ciara over the weekend, river flooding remains a risk across parts of Yorkshire today. Environment Agency teams are operating flood defences and have deployed pumps to help keep people safe and are out on the ground supporting affected communities.
“Over the weekend our teams operated the Thames Barrier, Foss Barrier and Hull Barrier as well as flood storage reservoirs in the Salford area and in Lancashire. We are checking defences after the severe weather and are operating them as needed to help keep people and properties safe.
“Further heavy showers are expected to continue today, tomorrow and into Wednesday meaning that minor flooding impacts are possible possible but not expected over the coming days. Localised coastal flooding is also possible today around the Solent and Isle of Wight due to high tides, large waves and coastal gales. We advise people to check their flood risk and to stay safe on the coast or when walking or driving near swollen rivers. We also caution against taking ‘storm selfies’ as large waves can be extremely dangerous.”
Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Steve Ramsdale, said: “Storm Ciara has now moved northeastwards away from the UK, though it’ll stay windy this week, particularly Monday and Tuesday with coastal gales or even severe gales in places. A wind warning remains in place along the south coast on Monday.
“There’ll be bright spells and blustery showers too, these turning wintry over higher ground in central and northern England where we have issued a warning for snow and ice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Snow may settle temporarily to lower levels but over the highest ground we could see snow gradually building with 10-15cm possible by Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, making for tricky driving conditions and possible disruption to public transport.”
We advise people to Sign up for our free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest safety advice, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.
