Woman clings to tree for 50 minutes as waters rise

The RNLI’s Flood Rescue Teams worked with a police helicopter to save a woman who had been swept away from her car by flooding and was clinging to a tree branch in freezing water.

The dramatic rescue happened at Umberleigh near Barnstaple in north Devon at around 3am on Sunday.

The woman was with her husband and son when their vehicle became trapped in floodwater from the swollen River Taw. She was swept away by the floodwater but managed to cling to a branch of a tree for 50 minutes.

The woman was helped to safety using a rigid inflatable and was treated for exposure to the water.

Rescuers say she was lucky to be alive.