Stranded school children rescued as weather prompts major incident in Lincolnshire

Dozens of children had to be rescued from a school cut off by flooding as a major incident was declared in Lincolnshire.

Around 50 youngsters were stuck at Edenham Primary School, near Bourne, on Monday after surrounding roads were left underwater following snow and heavy rainfall.

Voluntary group Lincolnshire Community Assistance Team posted on social media: "We have responders on scene at Edenham, supporting other community response groups in the safe evacuation of children from a primary school."

All the children were safely removed from the premises after people with 4x4s and other vehicles responded to an appeal for help.

It came as a major incident was declared by the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum following the bad weather.

A spokesperson said in a statement on X: “We expect to see conditions worsen overnight as surface water ices over and conditions on both treated and untreated roads will be very icy and pose a risk.”

Sixteen properties in the village of Billingborough were evacuated due to flooding and the village hall was set up as a refuge centre.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had taken more than 140 calls to flood incidents on Monday, including 14 calls about stranded drivers and more than 50 about flooded properties.

A spokesperson said: "Our crews have been supporting communities across the county pumping out water where possible and helping people to safety... if you have to travel, please take care on the roads where standing water is hazardous."

Declaring a major incident means special arrangements are needed to help organisations work together to respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The situation prompted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to offer his sympathies to people affected in Lincolnshire and other parts of the country hit by flooding.

In a post on X, he said: "My thoughts are with all those affected and my thanks to responders working hard to keep communities safe."Anyone in these areas should follow advice from the emergency services."

Darrell Redford, who leads gritting operations in Lincolnshire County Council, said conditions would continue to be "very dicey".

He said: "The heavy rain mixed with snow has been difficult enough to deal with, but we’re now facing early freezing temperatures which are going to add a lot of complications for road users.

“The falling temperatures mean that the standing water on the roads will freeze, we will also see run-off water from adjacent land coming across the roads and freezing even more.

“Because of the amount of water that’s already come down, and that which will continue to get onto the roads throughout the rest of the day and night, we could see the salt we’re putting down getting washed away.

“If that’s the case then this will be a very, very dicey period of time, both on the gritted routes and the other roads off them.”

Temperatures were expected to be sub-zero from 5pm on Monday.

Cllr Richard Davies, the council's executive member for highways, said: “That’s very early for the roads to hit freezing point, and it comes at a naturally busy time for the road network.

"We are doing everything possible with our expert gritting fleet, and will continue to work extremely hard across Lincolnshire as always, but it’s worth everyone being aware of these treacherous conditions ahead of time.”

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