Yorkshire flooding reprieve

Flooding in some parts of North Yorkshire Credit: PA

Flood-hit areas of Britain, such as North Yorkshire, can expect a reprieve from recent heavy downpours after forecasters predicted a dry weekend for most of the country.

A band of heavy showers brought flash flooding and rising river levels as it moved across the North of England on Thursday. It followed days of heavy rain across the country which prompted severe weather warnings for parts of southern England and Wales earlier this week.

Forecasters say much of Britain would see more settled weather over the weekend with some sunny spells, but it will remain cold for the time of year.

Firefighters in North Yorkshire were called to a number of localised incidents on Thursday, including the rescue of 350 sheep and lambs caught out by a flooded river in the Yorkshire Dales.

Three of the four Environment Agency flood warnings in force across England and Wales were for rivers in North Yorkshire. The highest rainfall figure was in Shap, Cumbria, which saw 1.4in (36mm) in 12 hours on Thursday and 2.4in (62mm) in 24 hours.