Storm Eva: Cumbrians braced for further flood misery
Cumbrians are bracing themselves for further flooding misery, with Christmas appearing to offer no break a string of winter storms.
The north-east and north-west of England are set to bear the brunt as Storm Eva rolls in, with heavy rain forecast to fall on already swollen ground in Cumbria.
However, flood alerts have also been put in place across much of the UK, from Wales to southern Scotland.
Storm Eva has already left around 2,000 homes and businesses in Ireland without electricity on Christmas Eve, amid fears that Brits already hit by flooding several times this month will see their properties affected again.
Armed forces have already been called in and hundreds of Environment Agency (EA) staff are on stand-by to bolster flood defences.
The Met Office has issued an amber alert for the county, suggesting some flooding of homes, businesses and transport links is possible due to rainfall.
Heavy rain is likely to fall quite widely, and will spread across Wales and northern England through the course of Christmas Day, reaching southern parts of Scotland in the early hours of Boxing Day. Prolonged spells are forecast for south Cumbria.
The EA also said that there is a possibility of flooding and disruption over the next three days along the River Severn in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire and the River Ouse in York as temporary flood defences are deployed.