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| Weather: UK's worst winter storms for two decades set to continue | Weather: UK's worst winter storms for two decades set to continue |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Britain remains in the grip of the worst run of winter storms for two decades, with 70 flood warnings in place throughout England and Wales and a further 217 areas on flood alert. | Britain remains in the grip of the worst run of winter storms for two decades, with 70 flood warnings in place throughout England and Wales and a further 217 areas on flood alert. |
| The storms and floods have so far claimed three lives, including that of a man who is thought to have drowned in Oxford after his mobility scooter fell into a river on Saturday night. | The storms and floods have so far claimed three lives, including that of a man who is thought to have drowned in Oxford after his mobility scooter fell into a river on Saturday night. |
| The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and rain, predicting river and surface flooding as well as travel disruption, mainly in south Wales and the south-west and south-east of England. Up to 40mm of rain could fall on higher ground. | The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and rain, predicting river and surface flooding as well as travel disruption, mainly in south Wales and the south-west and south-east of England. Up to 40mm of rain could fall on higher ground. |
| Coastal areas – particularly in southern England – are most vulnerable because of unusually high tides and the arrival of a strong Atlantic storm. The Thames barrier will remain closed to protect land near the river. Inland rainfall will put pressure on rivers, endangering nearby communities including those along the river Medway in Kent, the river Severn estuary in Gloucestershire and the river Thames in Oxford and Osney, where the latest death occurred. | |
| Thames Valley police were called to Osney Lock at 6.30pm on Saturday after receiving a report that a man apparently driving his mobility scooter along a flooded footpath had fallen into the river. The 47-year-old man, from the Oxford area, was pulled from the lock but died at the scene. His death follows those of a 27-year-old man from Surrey, who was found on Porthleven Sands beach in Cornwall after he was swept out to sea on New Year's Eve night, and a woman who died after being rescued from the sea in Croyde Bay, north Devon. | |
| Meanwhile, dozens of volunteers in south Devon have resumed their search for missing 18-year-old student Harry Martin, who was last seen leaving his home to take photographs of the weather. | Meanwhile, dozens of volunteers in south Devon have resumed their search for missing 18-year-old student Harry Martin, who was last seen leaving his home to take photographs of the weather. |
| The strong winds, persistent rain and tidal waves are predicted to batter the UK for at least another two days, as emergency services attempt to cope with the trail of devastation already created by the severe weather. Matt Dobson, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said the rain "simply has nowhere to go" because weeks of severe weather had left the ground waterlogged and rivers rising over their banks. | |
| "It's very unusual to have so many powerful storms come in one after the other in such a short space of time; we haven't seen anything like this since about 1991," he said. "The nasty weather of the last few days is going to continue across the UK, with the combination of high tides and a powerful storm putting coastal areas particularly at risk. Any rain will mean more flooding as the ground is saturated and swollen rivers are coming up against strong waves." | |
| More than 200 homes have been flooded from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline affected and roads and fields across the country left under water. Officials around the country have pleaded with people to keep away from coastal areas, where waves up to 12m (40ft) high have lashed the land. | More than 200 homes have been flooded from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline affected and roads and fields across the country left under water. Officials around the country have pleaded with people to keep away from coastal areas, where waves up to 12m (40ft) high have lashed the land. |
| A man and child were almost swept away by a huge wave at Mullion Cove in Cornwall as they peered over the sea wall to watch the raging sea. Elsewhere in Cornwall, vehicles driving on a coastal road were swamped and almost washed away by a tidal surge. | |
| In Aberystwyth, a man was rescued by lifeboat after he ignored police warnings and became trapped when photographing waves from a harbour jetty. Aberystwyth University has deferred the start of the examination period by one week and is advising students not to travel to the coastal town until the middle of next week. The strong tides are said to be the worst to batter the Welsh coast in 15 years, while the coastal surge of recent days has also tested more than 1,850 miles of flood defences in England. | |
| Trains have suffered disruption with services in west Wales and from Newport and Bristol to the south coast affected by the weather. There were also delays at the Port of Dover because of force-five winds. Northern Ireland has largely escaped any serious flooding or damage but amid fears of unpredictable and changeable conditions, especially on Monday, police announced plans to hand out sandbags in a number of towns close to the Co Down coast, which they believe could be vulnerable to the high tides, wind and rain. Distribution centres were opened in Newtownards, Portaferry, Ballywalter, Castlewellan and Downpatrick. | |
| David Cameron has pledged that lessons will be learned from the flooding but insisted that the Environment Agency (EA) has been given the funding to protect frontline services. The government's flood-control strategy has been criticised after it emerged that an estimated 1,700 jobs are to be axed at the agency, with 550 staff from the floods team to go. | David Cameron has pledged that lessons will be learned from the flooding but insisted that the Environment Agency (EA) has been given the funding to protect frontline services. The government's flood-control strategy has been criticised after it emerged that an estimated 1,700 jobs are to be axed at the agency, with 550 staff from the floods team to go. |
| When questioned about the EA's ability to fund flood defences on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the prime minister replied: "We're spending £2.3bn in this four-year period on flood defences which is more than the previous four-year period. We have also enabled them to access other sources of money – partnership funding – so I think we're going to see record levels of spending on flood defences and we have guaranteed that right out into 2020 so they can really plan for the future." | |
| On Sunday, Owen Paterson, the Conservative environment secretary, was accused by Labour of ignoring the increased risk of flooding because he is sceptical about climate change science. Maria Eagle, the shadow environment secretary, said Paterson had "real questions to answer" about why he was allowing cuts at the EA that could affect Britain's ability to deal with severe weather incidents. | On Sunday, Owen Paterson, the Conservative environment secretary, was accused by Labour of ignoring the increased risk of flooding because he is sceptical about climate change science. Maria Eagle, the shadow environment secretary, said Paterson had "real questions to answer" about why he was allowing cuts at the EA that could affect Britain's ability to deal with severe weather incidents. |
| Eagle told Sky News's Murnaghan programme: "The question is whether Owen Paterson's climate change scepticism – and remember he said that Britain would benefit from climate change – has blinded him to the concerns of increasing risk of flooding, and therefore he hasn't protected budgets." | Eagle told Sky News's Murnaghan programme: "The question is whether Owen Paterson's climate change scepticism – and remember he said that Britain would benefit from climate change – has blinded him to the concerns of increasing risk of flooding, and therefore he hasn't protected budgets." |
| Paterson, a strong opponent of onshore wind farms, does not deny that climate change is happening but has made several controversial remarks on the subject. This year he suggested there could be benefits for Britain from climate change, and has previously said he is sceptical about some of the measures taken to counteract its effects. "People get very emotional about this subject and I think we should just accept that the climate has been changing for centuries," he said at the Conservative party conference in October. | |
| "I think the relief of this latest report is that it shows a really quite modest increase, half of which has already happened. They are talking one to two and a half degrees." Shortly after taking the post of environment secretary in September 2012, he told the Farmers' Guardian: "It is perfectly obvious climate change is there, and there is a human contribution, but I want to be sure the measures we are taking to ameliorate the problem don't create other problems. So that's why I am sceptical." | |
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