Northern England remains on flood alert as heavy rain continues

The Environment Agency has urged communities in northern England to remain vigilant against the threat of flooding as more than 180mm of rain fell overnight in some places.

Although it lifted severe flood warnings – its highest level of alert - for Cumbria, the agency said persistent, localised heavy rainfall was expected throughout Sunday and into Monday with river levels extremely high and continuing to rise in places.

The risk was highest for Cumbria, parts of Lancashire and western parts of North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. The outlook for the rest of the week remains unsettled.

Police in several counties have warned of bad driving conditions, with some roads flooded. In Stockton-on-Tees, three people were taken to hospital for checks after a taxi overturned in what police described as “awful driving conditions”.

In Cumbria, despite the lifting of the severe flood warnings, police advised motorists to drive “only if absolutely necessary” after torrential rain left roads flooded and hundreds of people fearing their homes may be inundated.

Ch Insp Matt Kennerley said: “Many of the county’s roads, including the A66 at Threlkeld, have minor road surface flooding. Our advice is to drive only if necessary today as it is expected, that with further deteriorating weather conditions, more roads will be affected with an increasing severity.”

He also warned of significant crosswinds in the Shap area, where the M6 crosses high ground in Cumbria. The EA initially issued 12 severe flood warnings for areas in and around the Cumbrian towns of Kendal and Egremont.

“Heavy rain is falling on already saturated ground causing rivers to rise and bringing a risk of flooding across the north-west,” said Craig Woolhouse, EA director of incident management. “We urge people to check the risk of flooding in their area, sign up for flood warnings and be prepared to take immediate action.”

Further heavy rainfall is expected next week, the agency added. It said its teams were preparing temporary barriers, deploying sandbags along riverbanks, clearing river blockages and monitoring water levels.

The EA last week said it had sent two water pumps to Cumbria capable of pumping 120,000 cubic litres of floodwater a minute.

“Communities in northern England should remain vigilant to the risk of flooding,” said Neil Davies, EA flood risk duty manager. “Further heavy, persistent rain is expected throughout Sunday and into Monday, and river levels remain extremely high and are continuing to rise in places. Fifteen thousand properties have been protected from flooding thanks to Environment Agency flood schemes”