Storm Henk: Man killed, homes flooded and travel disruption as new weather warning issued
ITV News' Ben Chapman reports from Loughborough respectively on the disruption and flooding caused by Storm Henk
Dozens of homes have been flooded, a motorist killed and severe disruption to travel as Storm Henk continues to cause widespread chaos across large parts of the UK.
New weather warnings have been issued for the following days after the UK was lashed by the storm on Tuesday.
The strongest gales were recorded at the Needles Old Battery in the Isle of Wight, where wind speeds reached 94mph.
Gusts of 81mph were reached at Exeter Airport in Devon, and top winds hit 71mph at the Isle of Portland in Dorset and also at Mumbles Head in Glamorgan.
What alerts are in place?
The Environment Agency had more than 260 flood alerts and warnings in place as of Wednesday evening, down from 350 alerts for England earlier in the day - meaning flooding is expected.
Storm Henk battered large parts of southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales throughout Tuesday.
The majority of the flood warnings now in place cover the central part of England, in Birmingham, Leicester and Northampton.
In Wales there was one severe flood warning, as well as dozens of flood warnings and alerts, according to Natural Resources Wales.
The Met Office issued a further yellow warning for heavy rain across southern England, from 12pm on Thursday to 3am on Friday.
Have you been affected by the damage and disruption caused by Storm Henk? Get in touch with ITV News via yourstory@itn.co.uk
Man killed after tree crushed car, homes evacuated and 'local hero' rescues mum
Police said a man in his 50s died in Gloucestershire on Tuesday after winds caused a tree to fall onto the vehicle he was driving. Emergency services, including an air ambulance, attended the scene and investigation work is underway.
Meanwhile, dozens of homes in Loughborough have either been breached or are surrounded by floodwater, with some residents trapped in their homes.
The downstairs of Ivan Fletcher’s property, where he has lived for 16 years, is covered by around a foot of water, with his possessions moved upstairs.
“I woke up this morning to this. There was water everywhere, and it has got worse. There are bins everywhere, rubbish, the kids were panicking, stress," he said.
“It happened about 12 years ago but it was never this bad. We had no warning at all. I think it’s disgusting. (We have had) no help at all, no one has come to help us, just deal with it ourselves."
Aerial footage captured the scale of flooding at the Billing Aquadrome riverside caravan park, in Northamptonshire
Elsewhere, some 2,000 people were evacuated from a riverside caravan park in Northamptonshire because of "scary" flooding.
Another holiday park in South Wales was flooded, with reports of raw sewage in the water.
A man in Birmingham has been hailed as a "hero" after he rescued a mother and her child from dangerous floodwater.
Liam Stych saved the woman and her three-year-old daughter from a car that was submerged in water.
Speaking to ITV News Central, Mr Stych said that if faced with the same situation said that "he'd do it again and again".
"I basically told them [the emergency services] where we were and then from that point, she hit the current so I had to act then or it was over. It was either do nothing or do something at that point."
Watch the moment that Liam Stych and his partner Tia Draper managed to rescue a mum and her three-year-old daughter from a car trapped in floodwater
Trains delayed or cancelled due to high winds as several major roads shut
A joint statement from South Western Railway and Network Rail on X, formerly Twitter, said on Wednesday morning that disruptions linked to the storm will continue throughout the day.
"We are very sorry for the disruption customers experienced yesterday, due to the serious and widespread impact of Storm Henk," the statement said.
"The severe winds led to trees on the line damaging or delaying trains in multiple locations across our network."
Great Northern Rail services resumed between Cambridge and both Ely and King's Lynn after work to repair damaged overhead wires and remove a fallen tree.
Thameslink said services are back to normal after disruptions on Tuesday.
Several rail routes remained disrupted due to flooding, but some lines have reopened.
A statement from Greater Anglia said that all lines had now reopened after "multiple incidents" had affected its services.
Meanwhile, National Highways said several major roads in England were closed due to flooding.
Thousands of homes without power after blackout
The Energy Networks Association - which collates data from all energy providers - estimated that 10,000 customers were without power on Wednesday morning.
Stefan Laeger, the Environment Agency's flood duty manager, said that the heavy rainfall means "significant local flooding" on the River Nene, in the east of England, is "probable" until Thursday.
He said: "Recent and ongoing heavy rain is falling on already very wet ground and could see some riverside locations across England flood until Thursday, while surface water flooding is also possible at times during the next five days in parts of the country.
"Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground, working to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible. We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move car."
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