Six die as floods hit UK

Northumberland, North Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Gloucestershire were among the areas affected.

Victims of the severe weather included a 27-year-old man from Cheltenham killed in a mudslide in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and a teenage girl from south London who died in Wales when the car she was travelling in overturned.

Roads were closed across Northumberland as the county was hit by what is thought to be the worst flooding for 50 years.

Ten people were forced to seek refuge at a local police station over the weekend after being caught out by the floods.

PC Keith Marchant, from Wooler Police Station, said: “These people were glad to find somewhere warm and dry for the night. We advised them to spend the night at the station, an offer they were keen to take up.”

Nearly 100 flood warnings were issued across England and Wales by the Environment Agency ahead of the deluge, and many remained in place over the weekend as more rain swept across the UK.

On Wednesday morning, 21 flood warnings were still in place, and another 40 areas were still on flood watch – mainly in the northeast and midlands – the Environment Agency said.

A further 21 areas which had been at risk earlier in the week had been given the all clear.

The Met Office warned that further heavy rain would affect parts of the UK on Wednesday, falling on already saturated ground and increasing the potential for further problems.

A combined Met Office and Environment Agency team are monitoring the situation this week in a bid to deliver rainfall warnings to emergency services.

Kate Martin