Life, homes, and businesses are in “danger” as forecasters issue 29 more flood warnings throughout the UK after weeks of hot, dry weather that produced drought and dried up the land. “Battered Britain” is now facing a second day of thunderstorms and flash floods.
The Met Office’s yellow thunderstorm warning for Wednesday predicts circumstances in which “20-30 mm of rain is probable within an hour” after weeks of oppressive weather.
Huge areas of the nation have seen torrential downpours, which have left roads and drains flooded and people urgently trying to hold back floods.
Communities in central, southern, and eastern England as well as south-east Wales may now experience flash floods, power outages, and disruptions to transportation.
Flooded roads might block them off, and the possibility of swiftly moving or deep floodwater could endanger lives, according to the alert.
With spectacular images of heavy downpours and flash floods on highways in Newquay, Cornwall, Bishop’s Tawton, Devon, and Haywards Heath, West Sussex, portions of Cornwall and Devon have been particularly severely struck in the South West.
In Winchester, workmen were spotted yesterday removing a drain grid on a flooded road, while locals in Dorset tried to divert flash floodwater away from a restaurant in West Bay using buckets and other homemade containers.
Wales’ Port Talbot saw street flooding, while Loughborough’s Morrisons parking lot experienced flooding.
However, scientists have cautioned that it will take “weeks” of heavy rain for certain areas of the nation to recover from the driest July on record and the driest half of the year since 1976 since the ground would find it difficult to absorb the water and surface run-off leads to floods.
This implies that on the “tinderbox dry” terrain that Britain has been left with, wildfires are still a danger.
Following the South West, southern, and central regions of England, as well as the East of England last week, authorities declared Yorkshire to be in a state of drought on Tuesday.
Firefighters from Buckley Hill and Kirkby were summoned at 9.35 p.m. to reports of a “big blaze” in a field near Buckley Hill Road in Bootle, Merseyside. According to the Liverpool Echo, witnesses were concerned about the Shy Lowen Horse and Pony Sanctuary.
Following overnight severe rain, Scotland experienced travel disruptions on its roads and rail networks, including flooding at Perth station.
After a mudslide on Monday night, the A358 in Combe Florey, Somerset, which is located between Minehead and Taunton, was still blocked yesterday afternoon. More than 100 tonnes of mud and sliding potatoes from surrounding farms were retrieved by workers.
The following is from the Met Office’s warning: “Thunderstorms and regions of heavy rain will develop relatively extensively on Wednesday throughout central, southern and eastern sections of England and southeast Wales, although some locations will avoid them.”
20 to 30 millimetres of rain may fall in an hour, but in spots where the thundery rain becomes slow-moving, 60 millimetres may fall in less than three hours.
“A few locations might still have more rainfall than this, and hail and lightning could provide extra risks.” By Tuesday night, the Environment Agency had sent out 29 flood warnings.
According to the Met Office, the wettest places on Tuesday were Spadeadam in Cumbria (25.4mm) and Trengwainton House in Cornwall (18.4mm).
In videos and images posted to social media, communities in southern England and Wales, including Newquay in Cornwall, Bishop’s Tawton in Devon, Haywards Heath in West Sussex, Port Talbot in south-west Wales, and Bridport in Dorset, were seen to be experiencing heavy rain and flooding.
As heavy rain and thunderstorms lash parts of the nation today, creating mudslides while soaking train lines and streets, Britons have been advised to pack a “grab bag” of supplies in case of floods.
As the warmth comes to an end with a bang with up to two inches of rain dropping in three hours today, firefighters advised residents to prepare a flood kit, warning that those who live in basement apartments or low-lying houses are especially at danger.
According to the National Flood Forum, a flooding “grab bag” should include any medications or prescription forms, insurance and other critical paperwork, cell phones and chargers, emergency cash and credit cards, and mobile devices.
The London Fire Brigade advised residents to “use sandbags to stop the water flow and relocate possessions to a higher level” and to “be prepared and know what to do should a flood arise.” People who live in “low-lying houses” should make sure their valuables are “ready to move” or “on a higher level of your property,” according to the Met Office.
The Environment Agency estimates that 5.2 million households in England, or one in every six residences, are at danger of flooding, therefore the advice will be relevant to millions of individuals.
There are 2.4 million people who are at danger from rivers and the sea, 1 million of whom are also vulnerable to surface water floods, and another 2.8 million people who are just at risk from surface water.
I’ve never seen rain like this, a Twitter user who submitted a video of floodwater in Newquay said. Our street is inundating Newquay.
Despite recent flood work by the @EnvAgency, a second Twitter user in Bishop’s Tawton, north Devon, wrote: “(F)lash flooding necessitating usage of sandbags to prevent water in home, urgent need for answers.”
On Tuesday, ScotRail slowed down several of its services, while Network Rail in Perth reported dealing with water at the station.
Since Wednesday is the fourth consecutive day that thunderstorm warnings have been issued in the UK, residents of counties including Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire should prepare for potential torrential downpours.
According to Simon Partridge of the Met Office, “there might be some high totals (of rainfall), especially if you see some severe thunderstorms coming in one after another.”
People in the north should be able to take advantage of a day that feels fresher, is a bit cooler, is mostly dry, and has some sunny patches.
The ground has been very dry due to the heat and prolonged lack of rain, according to Mr. Partridge. When it has rained, the earth has been entirely dry and baked dry, much like concrete.
It is moving off more quickly than in the past. It is much simpler for the earth to absorb the rain that falls on it if there is some moisture there. We most likely have a larger run-off rate than usual for the rains.
“There has been so little water that has gone into the ground that it almost seems like all the fields have been tarmacked,” a farmer said.
Today’s weather warning from the Met Office will remain in effect for southern England, where towns might become blocked off due to flooding roads and power outages.
Within three hours, up to 50mm of rain may fall in certain areas of the nation, according to spokesman Stephen Dixon. There may be thundery showers across a large portion of the UK.
It is vital to remember that thunderstorms might appear anywhere within the warning region. However, some places can completely miss the rain.
As the day goes on, “that chance of thunderstorms will spread to southern portions of the UK.” This danger, according to Mr. Dixon, will last the whole day on Wednesday.
“The primary concern that we are looking at is for the South East early on Thursday morning.” As the day progresses, the danger then diminishes.
The National Flood Forum charity also issued a warning, noting that despite flooding having become a common occurrence in the nation, the UK is still just “reacting and not proactive” when it comes to flood risk.
The charity’s flood recovery expert, Heather Shepherd, said: “Flooding has clearly risen” in an interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari. Now, we recognise it as an annual trend.
“I still believe that we are mostly reactive rather than proactive. When flodding isn’t making headlines, we have a tendency to get a little too relaxed.
A lot of [construction] is on areas where water formerly had room but no longer does, according to Miss Shepherd, who also said that “building like wild everywhere” was increasing the danger of floods. Our drainage system is overburdened.
In the meanwhile, Lake Windermere in Cumbria has been advised against swimming due to a possibly poisonous algae that has grown on its surface.
Although the heatwave officially ended on Tuesday after eight days, most of the UK is still experiencing very warm temperatures, with highs of 22C (71.6F) today in London, Brighton, and Exeter, 25C (77F) in the south on Thursday, and 23C (73.4F) on Friday.
Following the South West, southern, and central regions of England, as well as the East of England last week, authorities declared Yorkshire to be in a state of drought on Tuesday.
The Rivers Trust’s Christine Colvin expressed concern that in the following days people would not take the drought seriously, saying, “We want people to put this rainfall event in perspective and as part of the wider picture.”
The wider picture is that we’ve really still had a very dry year and summer, and it will need persistent rain to restore our reserves. Even though it has rained, the drought has not ended.
The aquifers and the controlled storage in our reservoirs, which are the supplies we really utilise, will need to be replenished, she said.
The intense downpours over a short period of time are flooding towns and cities instead of soaking into the land, which has been baked almost as hard as concrete by the heat.
Due to the present high flood danger, the Met Office advised residents of “low-lying houses” to make sure their valuables are “ready to depart” or “on a higher level of your property.”
This morning, Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir warned there is a danger of flooding in houses for low-lying buildings that may have been constructed on a floodplain.
Get ready to evacuate or move all of your important papers to a higher level of your home, including your passport, mobile phone, and other items you don’t want to be harmed by floodwater.
The earth is too hard to absorb the rain, she said, so the downpours from last night and this morning are “the incorrect type of rain we need for the land.”
Rather than this extremely powerful burst that is presently going up through more southern portions of England, we are expecting for kind of continual, moderate rain. Therefore, we’re not yet out of the woods.
‘It is vitally essential that Londoners – especially those living in basement houses – be prepared and know what to do should a flood occur,’ said Patrick Goulbourne, Assistant Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade.
“Pay heed to weather warnings and put together a grab bag or flood kit.” Sandbags may be used to stop the flow of water and shift possessions to a higher level.
According to the National Flood Forum charity, a flooding “grab bag” should include insurance and other critical papers, cell phones and chargers, emergency cash, and any medicine.
It should also include diapers, a favourite toy, clothes, wipes, milk, and baby food for parents of small children.
In eight regions of England, including Devon and Cornwall, Kent, and south London, a drought was declared last week.
To combat the shortage, a number of water companies, including Welsh Water, Southern Water, and South East Water, have already enacted hosepipe bans.
The most recent company to announce limits in Cornwall that would take effect on August 23 was South West Water.
Thames Water has said it plans one but has not set a date, while Yorkshire Water’s ban will begin on August 26.
Anyone who violates the restriction faces a £1,000 punishment, although water providers have not disclosed if they have previously pursued legal action.
Stephen Dixon, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said that portions of Scotland as well as the South West and East of England are expected to see thunderstorms and heavy rain.
In certain areas, he said, up to two inches of rain—nearly a month’s worth—could fall in only three hours.
However, it is difficult to predict with precision where these thunderstorms will occur, he said. The showers won’t even be available in certain places.
However, when they do fall, there may be some effects such as surface water flooding (because the rain evidently hits dry terrain), interruption of traffic, and power outages that affect homes and businesses.
Greg Dewhurst, a meteorologist at the Met Office, added: “Temperatures will be lower, with highs only reaching about 27C as a maximum temperature, but it will still be humid” (yesterday).
On Wednesday, there will be thundery showers over central and southern England, with a high temperature of around 26C.
Mr. Dewhurst advised people to keep up with local news and weather updates as he cautioned that poor weather conditions would make travel difficult.
Our suggestion is to keep connected to the newest predictions and local radio stations as well, to receive the latest information, he added. “We’ll see some really heavy rains develop over the coming days, hail, frequent lightning, and some flash flooding is probable,” he said.
“It is important to be informed that there may be travel interruptions or delays.”
He said, “It will be at times very windy as we close the week, with some showery weather, especially over the north of the UK. Temperatures will thus typically be about normal for many but may be a little above average for the extreme south, which is the mid-20s.
“It is probable that everyone will feel fresher starting late Wednesday or early Thursday.”
Professor Hannah Cloke, a hydrology specialist at the University of Reading, issued a warning that the chance of “dangerous” floods was enhanced by the dry soil.
The earth is very dry, and when it is so dry, it behaves much like concrete, preventing water from penetrating and allowing it to drain out immediately.
These floods may result in property damage to houses and businesses as well as transportation interruptions, but they can also be quite deadly if they are concentrated in one area.
‘If you have significant rain in a city, the drainage system can deal up to a limit,’ she added in reference to how it may effect places like London. However, if the rain is very heavy, it might overwhelm the system since it cannot escape quickly enough.
Water prefers to follow the shortest route, which is why surface area floods in cities are so destructive. The Tube, subterranean parking, and other places are concerned because of this.
The hazards we already face in cities are exacerbated if we are in London and the parks are really dry because there is nowhere for the water to flow.
According to Professor Cloke, flooding often affects low spots on highways and beneath bridges in rural areas.
Also yesterday, Ofwat CEO David Black supported the water corporations’ goals, calling them “difficult but doable.”
When questioned whether the objectives established for leaks are hard enough, Mr. Black said, “Yes, we set challenging but doable standards for water businesses, leakage being one of them.”
The current information we have indicates that 13 out of 17 firms are on pace to accomplish that in the first two years. “So at the previous pricing review we challenged the industry to cut leakage by 16%.”
I can point to other areas of the (targets) regime where fewer firms are succeeding, for instance on pollution incidence.
We have thus established high standards, and during the most recent pricing review, four out of the seventeen enterprises disputed our decision.
They believed the standard to be too strict, and one of their arguments was that the goals were too lofty.
Overall, the water provider industry, according to Mr. Black, “has underperformed against the pricing review.”
“Where corporations fall short on leakage, they will pay fines on it,” he told the BBC. They could be outperforming the government in other places.
However, altogether, compared to the price review thus far in the term, the sector has underperformed.
“The industry hasn’t succeeded in generating the – if you want – these normal rates of return,” Mr. Black said.
“We definitely believe that consumers should get better service and demand better service, and for that reason we have established performance objectives that attempt to consistently motivate organisations to perform better,” he added.
“We have taken action against them and other firms,” the statement reads. “There are certain corporations like Thames Water that have been repeatedly poor performers.”
When asked whether he thought the system was perfect, Mr. Black said, “No, I believe that corporations like Thames and Southern really need to lift their game.”
I find it quite worrying because when we witness bad performance, it throws a long shadow on other businesses that may be doing better in the industry.