Travel chaos, floods as Storm Desmond hits Britain

The forecast from Met Éireann for Saturday night is for further heavy falls of rain, especially in the southwest, west and north, with further flooding.

Police have also warned drivers to avoid all roads in and around Kendal, where reception centres are open and residents may decide to evacuate their homes by themselves.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Homes have been flooded and roads across the county remain impassable this evening as Storm Desmond continues to batter Galway city and county.

In England, the Environment Agency issued 42 red alerts for severe flooding, indicating where there was a danger to life.

The main A82 road between Spean Bridge in Lochaber and Invergarry has reopened after Storm Desmond caused a huge landslide.

Many rail services were suspended in Scotland and northwest England, while several stretches of rivers in northeast England and the Midlands were at risk of flooding, the Environment Agency warned.

In Shepherd’s Bush witnesses suggested the force of the wind could have been behind the collapse of a roof onto the pavement below.

Locals have been urged to prepare for flooding and expect travel disruption.

Flooding has also been reported around Glenisland in Castlebar, Coy Mayo.

Heavy rain and wind is affecting Scotland, Wales and the north of England this weekend, causing travel problems for thousands.

LONDON (AP) — Authorities in Britain have closed roads, evacuated homes and issued severe flood warnings as stormy weather hits the country.

“The situation in Hawick developed overnight, but given the potential impact of the rising river levels it was imperative that residents were evacuated as early as possible, and they are now being looked after within the rest center”, said Scottish Borders Council emergency planning officer Jim Fraser.

Forecasters said rainfall of 60mm to 100mm was likely in wide parts of the amber zones, with some mountainous areas receiving up to 200mm over a 30-hour period.

A landslide in Scotland dumped 200 tonnes of debris onto a road today, and in Ireland, flights were grounded at Dublin airport.

In the Republic of Ireland, over 2,000 homes have been left without electricity due to the flooding.

The village of Shap in Westmorland county, northwest England, received the most rain in the 24 hours to 1900 GMT on Saturday, with 178 millimetres falling – well above the average for the whole of December, said the Met Office.

A spokesperson from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said: “NWAS has been operating under extremely challenging circumstances this evening with severe floods in Cumbria and Lancashire preventing access to many parts of the counties”.