Heavy rain and thawing snow to bring floods as Storm Bert batters UK

Heavy rain and thawing snow are combining to bring flooding across the UK as Storm Bert continues to batter the country.

More than 200 flood alerts are in place for England, Wales and Scotland overnight on Saturday and Met Office yellow warnings for rain and wind covering large swathes of the country are in force into Sunday.

Three men have died on the roads during Storm Bert and thousands of homes have been without power.

Milder temperatures are causing the snow which covered the north of England and much of Scotland to melt.

Dozens of red flood warnings have been issued in England, meaning flooding is expected and residents and business owners should “act now”, according to the Environment Agency (EA).

The Met Office said Storm Bert is likely to cause “dangerous coastal conditions” and disruption across southern England and parts of Wales until 9pm on Sunday with a yellow wind warning in place.

The national weather service has warned some communities may be cut off by flooded roads, particularly in the west of England.

Heavy and persistent rain is set to hit the south-west of England into Sunday, with a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the Met Office said.

Strong winds will exacerbate the impact of heavy rain across the country.

Travel disruption continues into Sunday and ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday, including its Newhaven to Dieppe sailings.

It comes after as much as 64.4mm of rain fell in Capel Curig, north Wales, in 12 hours on Saturday and wind gusts of up to 82mph were recorded in the Welsh village.

A man in his 60s died after a tree fell on a car on the A34 near Winchester, Hampshire Police said.

The force was called at 7.47am on Saturday to the southbound carriageway between Kings Worthy and Winnall and found the driver of a black Mercedes E350 dead at the scene. Officers are investigating whether the incident was linked to the storm.

Two other fatal collisions happened while the storm took hold in England.

West Yorkshire Police said a 34-year-old man died in a single-vehicle collision in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The incident took place at 12.59am on Moorhead Lane in Shipley at the junction with Beechwood Grove.

Officers found a blue Renault Captur, which had been travelling towards Saltaire, had collided with a wall.

It is unclear if the incident was related to Storm Bert but it is understood the road was not affected by ice.

Meanwhile in Northamptonshire, a man in his 40s died in a crash on the A45 near Flore.

Northamptonshire Police said the collision, at around 8.20am on Saturday, involved a silver Toyota Corolla and a dark grey Hyundai i30 Active.

It is not clear whether the incident was linked to the storm.

Five adults and five children had to be rescued from a house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen in north Wales, following a landslide, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.

Rail operators cancelled services on some routes all day on Saturday and urged passengers to check their routes before making journeys.

Avanti West Coast cancelled its service between Edinburgh and Carlisle all day on Saturday with the next direct service from Carlisle not scheduled to run until Sunday afternoon.

Train journeys to and from Manchester Piccadilly were disrupted on Saturday evening as flooding between Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent blocked some lines.

Thousands of homes were without power on Saturday as strong winds tore down power lines. Northern Powergrid said 27,000 customers were affected in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

In a post on X on Saturday evening, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by Storm Bert.

“For those who have lost power, my department will be keeping in close touch with the energy companies as they seek to ensure it is restored as swiftly as possible and help those affected.”