Fresh flood alerts issued as new storms strike
More than 130 flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency – including 11 in the Midlands as a fresh wave of wind and rain is set to wreak more havoc across the UK.
It comes as thousands are still without power in the wake of two major storms over Christmas which also left many homes flooded.
Forecasters say there will be a brief respite over the weekend but more bad weather is expected on Monday.
The authorities efforts to deal with the chaos caused by the first storm last Monday were hampered by the arrival of a second storm on Boxing Day night, bringing with it gales of more than 100mph.
Fierce gales lead to misery and mayhem across West Midlands
Power companies have been condemned for failing to restore supplies to thousands of people – some who had been without electricity since Christmas eve. It is thought around 6,000 people across the country are still without electricity.
More than 1,200 homes flooded, while many rivers burst there banks and groundwater flooding made roads impassable.
Yesterday saw more major travel disruption with hold ups on trains and in the air.
Trains were delayed for more than an hour yesterday through the Midlands heading to London as they were forced to slow down as a result of the weather.
Trees came down across the region including in Penkridge, Wolverhampton, Stourton and Kidderminster.
Planes also had to be diverted from Dublin Airport due to the storms.
The AA has also revealed that it attended around 1,100 breakdowns every hour yesterday with drivers ignoring warnings about driving through flood water.
Flood warnings have been issued for the River Severn in the Midlands.
As David Cameron visited flood victims in Kent he was confronted by one householder who said she had been left without power for four days.
The weather is also causing problems in Europe where high winds, torrential rain and crashing waves killed two people and blowing masonry off a Spanish opera house.
A 47-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl drowned in the Canary Islands when they were swept away by waves on La Graciosa island, the regional government said. Two other members of the same family – a 16-year-old boy and also a 12-year-old girl – were rescued.
Valencia's opera house, which was scheduled for a concert yesterday, was shut after parts of the building's masonry fell.
