UK weather news - live: Dozens of flood warnings in place as trains to Glasgow cancelled before climate summit
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Your support makes all the difference.People have been evacuated from their homes and road have been flooded in Scotland and Cumbria as the UK faces five more days of rain.
A “danger to life” warning was issued by the Met Office in Cumbria on Thursday as some areas were hit by up to 13 inches of rain in 24 hours.
The flooding has caused major delays on train lines and affected services running to Glasgow ahead of the Cop26 climate summit.
Emergency services in the Scottish borders said that 500 properties were at risk from damage. But, in a positive step, some families were able to return to their homes late on Thursday night as the River Teviot began to recede.
More flooding expected in Cumbria and the Lake District
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain over the weekend covering Cumbria and the Lake District.
The rain warning is from 3am on Sunday October 31 to 6am on Monday.
Cumbria has already been battling severe rainfall and rivers have overflowed, flooding key roads.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “A band of rainfall will arrive across western Wales on Sunday morning, and push quickly northeastward clearing this region to the northeast by late Sunday morning.
“This rain will last only 2 to 3 hours in any one location but within this time it is thought likely that some locations will see 20-30mm of rainfall.”
Weather warning in place for Glasgow ahead of climate summit
A yellow weather warning signaling heavy rain has put in place for Glasgow following severe flooding.
The warning is in place till 3pm October 29 and the Met Office is warning of longer journey times and possible flooding to homes and businesses.
Multiple roads have also been forced to close.
Another warning has also been put in place across the region with rain expected to last until lunchtime tomorrow.
The alert reads: “Another period of heavy rain is expected to affect central and southwest Scotland from early on Saturday. 10-20 mm will fall quite widely across the warning area, much of this falling in only a few hours, and onto already saturated ground.
“30-40mm may fall across parts of Dumfries and Galloway, mainly on the hills. Rain will clear away eastwards later in the morning.”
Four adults rescued from flooded building in Dumfries, Scotland
Four adults were rescued from a flooded business in Dumfries on Thursday night as widespread flooding hit the region.
Pictures posted to the Nithsdale Police’s Twitter account show a Scottish Fire and Rescue service boat being used to ferry passengers.
The tweet said all people involved were “safe and well”.
They also posted a video of roads that had turned into rivers to warn people not to travel.
Latest weather forecast from the Met Office
There are currently twelve flood warnings in place across England and 43 flood alerts.
Widespread flooding is expected across west and South Cumbria on Friday and parts of Lancashire and the mid to south Pennines could also be affected.
There are nine flood warnings in Scotland.
Heavy rain is expected on Friday, moving northeastwards across England, with strong winds predicted too.
On Saturday, heavy rain will hit the East of England. Then from Sunday to Tuesday the Met Office expects changeable weather with some showers and some longer spells of rain with sunny outbreaks in between.
Homes and roads swamped by downpour in Cumbria
Torrential rain in Cumbria has caused home evacuations and road blocks.
Nine flood warnings remain in force in the area on Friday, according to local media.
And a “danger to life” warning has been put in place by the Met Office.
Around 1,200 properties had to be protected from the rising waters by the Environment Agency. Officers shut flood gates and removed debris and blockages from watercourses.
On Thursday, Honister Pass saw over 12 inches of rain fall in 24 hours.
Train operators have also told people to avoid travelling on the West Coast Main Line and Cumbria Coastal routes.
Scotland hit by heavy rain and flooding causing people to evacuate their homes
Heavy rain has caused a river to overflow in the Scottish Borders prompting an evacuation mission.
A “major incident” was declared in Hawick after torrential rain swelled the rivers Tweed and Teviot on Thursday.
The river Teviot has now reached its peak and people are making their way back home, according to local authorities.
My colleague Eleanor Sly has the latest.
Hundreds told to evacuate homes as torrential rain triggers ‘major’ flooding
Homes and businesses evacuated in Scottish Borders town of Hawick as rising rivers threaten ‘significant damage’
‘Chaos’ as people try to make their way by train to Cop26 summit
People trying to make their way to Glasgow on Friday took to social media to warn others of “travel chaos”.
Jake Wakefield, campaigner at Tearfund, wrote: “A good reminder for all heading to Cop26 that if we’re struggling to get to Glasgow, the chaos caused by climate breakdown is so much more severe elsewhere.”
Jack McKenna, head of communications for Angela Rayner, said: “Welcome to COP! There are no trains to Glasgow as it rained north of Manchester, we’re using the tax system to incentivise domestic flight and forgot about the climate crisis in the budget.”
Trains cancelled to Glasgow ahead of climate change summit
The train operator Avanti West Cost has told customers that it is “experiencing severe disruption to our services north of Preston” ahead of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.
They advised people to “not travel on this route” despite many trying to make their way to the conference this weekend.
It is operating an amended timetable between Preston and Scotland, with speed restrictions in place which will significantly delay trains that are not already cancelled.
Network Rail Scotland said that they were limiting Glasgow-bound trains to 5mp through the Hartwood area due to heavy rain flooding the line. They added: “We’ve staff on site with water pumps who are monitoring the situation”.
TransPennine Express has also advised people not to travel on the West Coast Main Line unless essential.
Liam Sumpter, route director of Network Rail Scotland, said: “Extreme rainfall can pose a serious risk to the railway, causing landslips or damaging our infrastructure and bridges.
“The safety of our passengers and colleagues is our main priority during periods of poor weather, and slowing services down and running fewer trains will help us manage these conditions for everyone.”
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