Storm Babet: Six killed as floods and gales bring chaos to UK
Six people are now believed to have been killed by Storm Babet[1] after torrential rain and wind caused chaos across the UK and disruption at airports and railway stations brought major cities to a standstill. On the M4, four cars and an HGV were involved in a crash at around 9.10am on Friday, which occurred eastbound between junction 17 at Chippenham and junction 18 at Bath. Two women were pronounced dead at the scene.
And a 19-year-old driver died and five passengers were injured after a car hit a wall in a West Yorkshire village on Friday night. The weather conditions were a factor in the crash, according to The Sun. The collision involved a white Seat Ibiza which collided with a wall on Brow Lane at Shelf, near Halifax.
Ferries arrive and leave the Port of Dover in Kent on SaturdayCredit: Gareth Fuller
Police said the driver died at the scene, while an 18-year-old man was critically injured.
The Telegraph has contacted West Yorkshire Police for further comment. It comes as three severe flood warnings have been put in place around the River Derwent in Derbyshire, which appears to have burst its banks in some locations according to pictures on social media.
A man walks in flood water on Hawthorne Street in Chesterfield following heavy rain yesterdayCredit: Chesterfield Weather
Emergency services rescue pets and residents in ChesterfieldCredit: Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNP
The warnings – which mean there is a significant risk to life – are in place at Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate and Cattle Market, and Racecourse Park at Chaddesden. It comes with the Derwent having risen to record levels in Storm Babet.
Emergency crews have also had to rescue 20 people from a care home in Derbyshire after cars were submerged in flood water in the county, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue have said. It comes as motorists have been urged not to drive through flood waters and “to consider their travel plans” as Storm Babet continues to batter the UK.
More than 100 people had to be rescued in Derbyshire on Friday and the service declared a major incident due to the impact of the storm. Clive Stanbrook, area manager at Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service, warned flood waters could continue to rise near Derby and across south Derbyshire on Saturday.
He told BBC Breakfast: “We rescued over 100 people yesterday. For example, just on one road in Chesterfield in the north of the county, we rescued 60 people when that (water level) came up to the top of cars and several HGVs were stuck as well. “There is a village called Duffield in Derbyshire and we rescued 20 people from one care home there.
“Also there were 18 houses that were evacuated in a village called Ironville, again in the north of the county.”
Flooded Morborn in PeterboroughCredit: Terry Harris
Simon O’Brien (left) using his homemade boat, which he built for his grandchildren, to rescue elderly residents from their home in the village of Debenham, SuffolkCredit: Mary Scott
Hundreds of people have been left homeless in a Derbyshire town as Storm Babet continues to cause chaos across the UK. Labour MP Toby Perkins said about 400 houses in his Chesterfield constituency have been flooded and many people “have no idea where they’re going to be living”. Standing on a road in his constituency that was “under water yesterday and has significant damage”, Mr Perkins told BBC One’s Today programme on Friday: “About 400 houses have been flooded, many of the businesses here have lost all their stock and will be closed.
“I’ve just been into Tramway pub which was knee high in water, has no electricity. And so last night we had people at the Queen’s Park Sports Centre who didn’t have anywhere to stay. “Many of the people who live in this area are private renters, many of them don’t have flood insurance because you can’t get flood insurance if you’re in an area that’s prone to flooding.
“So a lot of the people I was speaking to last night have no idea where they’re going to be living from now. “Lots of them have lost all of their property, all their downstairs property and they’ll be turning up at the council’s door today saying ‘I need rehousing’.”
There are now more than 300 flood warnings in force across the UK with another red “danger to life” warning in place in Scotland. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s First Minister, urged people to heed the red weather warning and evacuate if instructed.
A Red Weather Warning remains in place for Angus & parts of Aberdeenshire.
Please comply with the advice being given, particularly if you are asked to evacuate, it is for your own safety. We continue to engage with local partners & emergency services to coordinate our response. https://t.co/k5KafCdU74[2]
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) October 21, 2023[3]
A man died in fast-flowing floodwater in Shropshire on Friday afternoon and a van driver was killed by a falling tree near Forfar, Scotland, while a third victim, a woman, was swept away in a river in Angus. A passenger plane also had to be evacuated after it skidded off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport as it tried to land in high winds.
The TUI flight from Corfu came to a standstill on boggy grassland leaving more than a hundred passengers strandedCredit: YappApp
Meanwhile, helicopter crews had to take action after a North Sea drilling platform lost four out of eight anchors because of Storm Babet.
Coastguard helicopters were called upon to move 45 non-essential workers from the Stena Spey to neighbouring platforms and to Sumburgh on the Shetland Islands on Saturday due to the incident, which started at 6.45am. Stena Drilling said the “severe weather” had led to the issues on Stena Spey, which is 146 miles east of Aberdeen, but all 89 personnel were accounted for. A HM Coastguard spokesman said the rig was facing strong waves and that it had taken the step of sending two of its helicopters.
“All support services are being co-ordinated through the shore-based incident response team and every possible effort is being made to safeguard risk to personnel at the scene and resolve the situation,” a company statement said.
Julie Foley, Director of Flood Strategy and Adaptation at the Environment Agency, warned people not to drive through flood waters, urging those in deluged areas to “really consider their travel plans”. “So I would really urge people to really consider their travel plans. I’m very, very aware there’s an enormous amount of travel disruption going on across the country at the moment,” she told BBC One’s Breakfast programme.
England footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold was involved in a minor car crash after a pylon was blown over in strong winds. The Liverpool defender’s Range Rover collided with a car after the 40-foot pylon fell into a country lane near Knutsford, Cheshire, on Friday morning, according to The Sun. It came ahead of the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton this afternoon.
The Telegraph has approached Cheshire Police for comment.
References
- ^ killed by Storm Babet (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ https://t.co/k5KafCdU74 (t.co)
- ^ October 21, 2023 (twitter.com)