A yellow cold weather alert across England comes into force at 9am this morning – and will remain in force for most of next week.
All of this comes as many parts of the country continue to grapple with the aftermath of Storm Henk, with heavy rainfall inundating homes and almost cutting off communities.
As of 2am on Saturday, 244 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – have been issued by the Environment Agency. A further 262 flood alerts, indicating flooding is possible, also remain in force.
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“Significant river flooding impacts” are expected to continue today across parts of the Midlands on the River Trent and in Gloucester, as well as areas of the South West on the River Avon.
Disruption elsewhere in England could last for the next five days because the ground is “completely saturated”.
Almost every river in England is at an exceptionally high level, with some rivers reaching their highest flow on record.
Alex McDonald, an Environment Agency spokeswoman, said: “We’re seeing a large number of big events, and this winter has been particularly bad since October onwards.
“We are feeling the effects of climate change in the East Midlands, and as a nation we need to be more resilient to flooding.”
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What cold weather alert means
The UK Health Security Agency’s warning will be in place until 12pm on 12 January, with forecasters warning of icy conditions as temperatures plunge below freezing.
While colder conditions increase risks to the most vulnerable, with “significant impacts possible” in the health sector, there are hopes that river levels will start to go down as rainfall eases.
The agency said:…
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2024-01-06 02:32:00
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