Major incidents declared as UK grapples with floods, snow and ice

Major incidents have been declared and dozens of people rescued in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire as heavy rains caused severe flooding in the Midlands on Monday.

Firefighters in Leicestershire received hundreds of calls on Monday, and rescued 59 people, while in Lincolnshire 50 children were taken to safety after their school was cut off by floodwater.

Meanwhile, police in North Yorkshire found the body of a man in floodwaters in Beal, close to Eggborough and Knottingley.

Almost 200 flood warnings have been issued in parts of England including a new severe warning introduced in Leicestershire on Monday evening indicating “large-scale evacuation is needed”.

The severe warning for the River Soar covers caravan parks near Barrow upon Soar and means there is a danger to life.

Meanwhile, yellow weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued in Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and Wales and areas of northwest and southwest England until Tuesday morning.

Travel disruption caused by the cold and wet weather has affected much of the UK on Monday, with roads, railways and airports all affected.

In Leicestershire, crews helped evacuate residents from flooded homes and came to the aid of drivers trapped in their cars.

Leicestershire County Council told the BBC it had been called to 160 flood-related incidents in the county so far.

In Lincolnshire, the school children had to be driven to safety by volunteer drivers in 4×4 vehicles after roads leading to Edenham Primary School, near Bourne, were flooded following heavy rainfall.

A further 16 people were rescued from properties in Billingborough, near Bourne, and were being temporarily housed in a village hall on Monday night.

Meanwhile, police in North Yorkshire say the man whose body was recovered from a flooded area in Beal is believed to have entered the water on Saturday or Sunday.

Police said the man has been formally identified, but efforts to trace his next of kin were ongoing. There are currently no suspicious circumstances surrounding the discovery, they added.

As of Monday evening, there were 184 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 301 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in place across England.

In Wales, one flood warning and 12 flood alerts are in place.

A Met Office warning for snow and ice across large parts of Scotland came into force at 16:00 and will last until midday on Tuesday.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow alert for snow and ice warning will be in place until 11:00 on Tuesday.

A yellow alert for snow and ice across Wales and parts of northwest and southwest England took effect at 17:00 on Monday, lasting until 10:00 on Tuesday.

In Ireland, tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without water and electricity. The cold weather has also led to the closure of schools and some transport disruption.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with all those affected by the flooding and thanked “responders working hard to keep communities safe”.

In the Commons, environment minister Emma Hardy told MPs flooding was “a personal priority” for her, adding that the Environment Agency was particularly concerned about Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.

Warning of further localised flooding to come over the next 24 to 36 hours, she pledged to overhaul the government’s approach to funding flood defences “to ensure the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are taken into account when delivering flood protection.”

The coldest temperature of the UK winter so far was recorded on Sunday night, when the mercury hit -13.3C (8F) in Loch Glascarnoch in Scotland.

On Monday morning, snowy conditions forced schools across north-east Scotland and northern England to close on the first day back after the Christmas holidays.

Power had to be restored to thousands of homes and businesses in the north-east of England following outages caused by the cold snap, according to network operator Northern Powergrid.

Roads across the UK were impacted by the weather. Extensive flooding in Gloucester forced the M5 to close on Monday morning. The M25 in Surrey also closed after a lorry toppled over and blocked the carriageway.

Railway lines across the UK were affected by flooding, while Manchester Airport was again forced to shut two runways after heavy snow.

Tonight the weather will feel quieter, as the area of low pressure which brought snow and rain this morning has cleared eastwards.

There will be a widespread frost with temperatures dropping widely below freezing and the risk of ice almost everywhere.

There will be further wintry showers blowing in on a north-westerly wind through the evening and overnight period.

In northern and western Scotland, wintry showers with accumulations of 5-10cm over 200m are expected.

There will be further sporadic wintry showers in the same sort of areas tomorrow but for many it will be very cold and dry with some sunshine.

There is a separate warning in place for possible snow across southern counties of England on Wednesday, lasting from 09:00 until midnight which could produce as much as 2-5cm of snow.

The world has warmed by more than 1C since the pre-industrial era. UK winters are changing as a result.

While the climate continues to warm overall we will still see short-term extremes of both hot and cold weather – but cold extremes are likely to become fewer and further between.

Climate change will bring us more rain. A warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture so more intense rainfall is expected to become an increasing feature of UK winters, along with a higher risk of flooding.