Calder Valley deluged four years after record flooding

Parts of the West Yorkshire communities of Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge have been inundated again - four years after record flooding devastated the area.

River levels peaked on Sunday just below the record levels of the 2015 Boxing Day floods, which caused millions of pounds of damage to houses and businesses right along the Calder Valley.

More than £30 million has been spent on flood defences in Mytholmroyd since the 2015 deluge, with part of the scheme completed in 2019 and the remainder due to be finished this summer.

Early reports from the village were that some of the new defences held but many homes were still flooded.

At the height of the flooding in the village on Sunday, the floods wardens said on their Facebook page: "Please stay at home unless absolutely necessary. There are no passable roads through The Valley.

"There are no shops open for you to buy things from. And if you think you have a vehicle that is capable of driving through flood water still don't do it."

On Monday the wardens said: "It's the morning after and possibly the firsttime people will get a chance to really take stock of the devastation."

Flooding affected large sections of the River Calder and River Aire in WestYorkshire.

Further downstream, the main bridge at Elland has been closed for structural assessments after a large shipping container hit it and lodged underneath.