Britain has been battered by storm Franklin resulting in a power outage in close to 56,000 homes, severe flooding, landslides and affecting railway services.
Gatekeepers News reports that Storm Franklin swept in overnight with a Met Office yellow wind warning in place for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and western Scotland until this afternoon as electricity engineers battle to reconnect properties.
Over 450 flood alerts or warnings were in place across the UK, including two severe warnings in south Manchester that prompted more than 400 homes to be evacuated – while Northern Ireland was also badly hit.
Train operators again warned customers to ‘avoid travel’ or ‘do not travel’ with services paralysed by gale-force winds and lashing rain following days of disruption due to Storms Dudley last Wednesday and Eunice last Friday.
Manchester Airport suffered major disruption on Monday as arriving flights were diverted to London Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, East Midlands, Newcastle and Dublin airports because they were unable to land in the North West.
Derbyshire was among the worst-hit areas by flooding, with Matlock Town Council describing ‘devastating’ levels of flooding in the town and Babington Hospital in Belper forced to shut down with all appointments cancelled.
The threat from Franklin comes after huge waves were seen crashing onto coastal areas, homes were destroyed by strong winds, and emergency services deployed flood defences along swelling riverbanks over the weekend.
Storm Franklin’s highest gust of 87mph was at the Needles on the Isle of Wight overnight, while the highest gust today was 79mph in North Wales. The highest during Eunice on Friday was 122mph – a record high for England.
The Met Office said conditions would still be unsettled over the next few days after the weather warning expires at 1pm today, and forecasters were examining possible wind and wintry hazards this Wednesday and Thursday.
‘It’s probably only a foot or two deep in truth, but enough to wreck businesses… it’s just really terrible and the rain is continuing,’ the 48-year-old said in the video.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue reported saving a number of people from stranded cars on the A61 at Harewood Bridge, with more reports of roads left impassable due to flash flooding across the region.
