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Christmas storms leave thousands of homes flooded or without power UK floods: more than 100 people evacuated as river bursts banks
(about 3 hours later)
Many people are facing a miserable Christmas Day in the wake of the stormy weather, with thousands either evacuated from their homes or left without power. More than 100 people were evacuated from their homes in Dorset in the early hours of Christmas Day after the river Stour burst its banks and swept through parts of Christchurch.
This comes after a number of deaths, thought to be related to the bad weather, in the days running up to Christmas. Ninety residents at the Iford Bridge home park, which is midway between Christchurch and Bournemouth, were led out of their homes at 3am after the water levels rose to 1.2 metres (4ft) and floodwater started seeping into the properties.
Fifty thousand homes across the UK were still without power on Christmas morning, the Energy Networks Association said. They were taken to a day centre in Boscombe, Bournemouth, and to the Iford Baptist church, which was later cut off by the rising waters.
With many families' turkey dinner ruined, UK Power Networks offered to pay for Christmas meals in local pubs or restaurants for people whose supplies remain cut off. A short time later, 15 residents from the Beaulieu Gardens home park in Christchurch were evacuated from their properties.
Firefighters broke their strike in parts of England because of the storms. Members of the Fire Brigades Union in Surrey and Kent were recalled to duty under the terms of an agreement between the union, the employers and the government. By 5.30am on Wednesday, the floodwater had reached the front gardens of some properties along Water Lane and Old Bridge Road in Christchurch and the council had handed out dozens of sandbags.
The Environment Agency has decreased the number of severe flood warnings from three to two, both in the south-west – at Beaulieu Garden Park home and Iford Bridge home park, where evacuations have already taken place. There are 102 flood warnings and 200 flood alerts. Gill Hayes, who lives along Old Bridge Road, said the water was just two metres (7ft) from her front door.
The Coastguard joined Kent fire and rescue service to rescue people from the Little Venice caravan and marina park in Yalding after rising waters from the river Medway cut them off. "I was meant to be going to my son's for Christmas but I can't get out of the house because the road is flooded," she said. "In any case I wouldn't want to leave my home in case the flooding gets worse."
By 8pm the water was chest-deep, the Coastguard said, and a helicopter was brought in as a precaution while the last 21 people were led to safety from rising flood waters and listing caravans. Tony Allen, who lives on Water Lane, said: "The first thing we saw on Christmas morning was the fire brigade on a rubber boat coming up the lane. We have seen it flooded before but never this bad."
The EA had 126 flood warnings across England and Wales on Christmas morning, mainly in the south-east, the south-west and the Midlands. A further 218 flood alerts were also in place, with 90 in the south-east alone. Most of the people evacuated from the park home sites were collected by friends and family and those remaining were put in bed and breakfast accommodation.
The EA said that by Tuesday night 150 properties had been flooded in England, mainly in the south and focused in Surrey and Kent. Publicans, hoteliers and those looking forward to Christmas lunch out also failed to escape the misery and chaos caused by the stormy weather and flooding.
Homes were evacuated in Dorking, Leatherhead and Guildford in Surrey, and in Tonbridge, Kent. Twenty-seven guests and nine members of staff were evacuated from the four-star Burford Bridge hotel in Surrey after it was deluged by dirty, muddy water when the river Mole burst its banks.
About 40 properties were evacuated in Godalming because of concerns over the height of the river Wey, Surrey police said, and a rest centre was set up for residents. The huge surge of water began entering the hotel on Tuesday morning, forcing workers and patrons to seek refuge on the first floor.
Kirk Waite, a forecaster at the Met Office, said Christmas Day would be much quieter weather-wise. Firefighters used boats to rescue the trapped staff and guests after the rapidly rising floodwaters submerged the hotel's ground floor, cellars and car park.
He said: "We do have a few showers around and they could be heavy at times, and some of them might bring more hail, which will give a whiteness to things." On Wednesday a spokesman said Christmas had been cancelled, adding that the hotel, which lies at the foot of Box Hill in the village of Mickleham, was closed until further notice.
Waite said another storm coming on Friday was not expected to be as severe as the one that had passed, but heavy rain would bring additional problems to places already dealing with floods. The hotel's receptionist, Lesley Shorter, said she had arrived at work early on Tuesday morning to find the car park underwater.
Tragedy has struck in the runup to Christmas Day, with the bad weather thought to have contributed to a number of deaths. On 23 December, a man's body was pulled from the river Rothay in Ambleside, Cumbria. The 48-year-old, from the Hest Bank area of Lancaster, was swept away by the fast-moving water after he and his dog were spotted in the river at 2.25pm. "I parked just down the road and my manager came and got me and carried me into the hotel," she said.
A woman also died in a river in Gwynedd, north Wales. Another woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a car crash near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, just after 9.30pm on Monday. The crash happened in difficult weather conditions, West Midlands ambulance service said. "The water was up to his wellie boots then and it just kept getting higher and higher."
A man died in a multiple-vehicle crash near Bodmin in Cornwall on Sunday night. Shorter said they had had to ring round their customers to tell them not to come for Christmas lunch.
In Ireland, a man in his 40s died when his car hit a wall at Moyleen, near Loughrea, Co Galway, at around 2pm on Monday. Gardaí in Galway were warning of severe winds. "One couple was coming from Leeds and it is just awful, but there was nothing we could do," she said.
Travellers trying to get home on Christmas Eve fought treacherous conditions on the roads and suffered major delays as the rail network was brought to its knees. One hundred people who had booked an £8.49 lunch at a pub in Tonbridge, Kent, were also phoned on Christmas Day to be told that the meal was off as the pub was water-logged and without power.
There was chaos at Gatwick airport in West Sussex after a power cut at the North Terminal led to cancellations and delays, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The airport said normal service would resume on Christmas Day. James Harris, manager of the Humphrey Bean, said: "We've got 6ft of water in our basement and no electricity."
EasyJet said it would be operating a limited number of flights from Gatwick on Christmas Day to replace ones that should have operated on Christmas Eve. It said it would be unable to schedule any further flights on Christmas Day because of limited capacity at airports and crew availability. Staff at the pub rang those who had booked and told them to go to other Wetherspoon's pubs in Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.
The flooding will leave Christmas cancelled for many people. Gary Button, manager of the Old Mill hotel in Batheaston near Bath, told the BBC he had to cancel more than 50 Christmas dinners after the river Avon flooded the property. One customer used Facebook to express his disappointment, but thanked staff for their help.
"Oh dear … no Christmas dinner today as we had booked into Wetherspoon's for Christmas dinner and they are flooded," wrote Clive Gray.
"Big up to the staff there who have called us to explain … all we say to them is nobody's fault … have a great Christmas all."
Rising waters from the river Severn and surface water from the A40 just outside Gloucester forced the closure of the Toby Carvery pub at Over in Gloucestershire.
Floods also led the pub to shut its doors in 2007 and 2012.
"This time it has only affected the front section of the pub so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as before but it is just my bad luck," said Sarah Marshall, the pub's general manager. "It's the last thing we need right now."
"We noticed the water coming in at about 11.20pm on Monday night and we've had the fire brigade out pumping the water out."
Gary Button, manager of the Old Mill hotel in Batheaston near Bath, told the BBC he had had to cancel more than 50 Christmas dinners after the river Avon flooded the property.
Thousands of people hoping to cook their own turkeys also fell victim to the power cuts caused by the foul weather.
UK Power Networks said it would pay for Christmas dinner in local pubs or restaurants for people whose supplies remained cut off, and appealed for owners in affected areas to come forward if they had any spare room.
Southern Electric restored power to thousands of homes on Wednesday, but said around 19,500 customers would be without power overnight.
Jonny Swift, from Crawley in Sussex, told the BBC: "Power off since 2345 Monday night, been told by UK Power not to expect the power to be back on until Boxing Day at the earliest.
"Not a very Merry Christmas for the family this year but thanks to very kind friends we will have Christmas lunch tomorrow. The Christmas spirit alive and well in West Sussex."
John Townsend, who lives near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, said: "My village has been without power for 24 hours. There was going to be emergency generators but the cables to connect were stolen.
"So metal thieves have ruined our Christmas and it seems we won't have power until Boxing Day."
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