Flood warnings issued as storms herald the end of summer

High winds and heavy rainfall predicted across the UK Flood warnings were in place and some travellers faced difficult journeys as heavy rain and strong winds whipped across parts of the UK on Tuesday. Winds of up to 50mph were predicted on the south and south-east coasts of England and up to 50mm or rain was expected to fall within 24 hours in some areas of the north-east of the country and north Wales. The wet and windy weather is expected to continue throughout the week as a series of low pressure systems move through. Flood warnings (meaning flooding is expected) were in place on the River Conder in Lancashire and in parts of the Dyfi Valley in north Wales. The Environment Agency also put in place 20 flood alerts (flooding is possible) mainly in the north-east of England and north Wales. Some ferry services were delayed or suspended because of the poor weather across the south of England. Flights in the far south-west of England were also disrupted. Speed restrictions were imposed on the old Severn Bridge because of the high winds and drivers were being warned of difficult conditions along the M4 through south Wales. Fallen trees also caused delays in Monmouthshire and Swansea. Dan Williams, a spokesman for the Met Office, said the south-east of England was likely to bear the brunt of the strongest winds while the Lake District and Snowdonia were due to be the soggiest places. “It is likely to stay windy throughout the week with fast moving low pressure systems moving through,” he added. Sixteen sailors were rescued from a vintage ship on Monday evening after its mast snapped in the strong winds. The 120-year-old ketch, a training ship, was off the coast off Portland Bill, Dorset, when it was caught up in 40mph gusts. Its wooden 9m (30ft) tall mast broke in half and the sail and rigging fell into the sea. The crew, all young adults, were unable to retrieve the stricken mast in the poor conditions and called coastguards for help. They were towed to shore by the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat and none of the crew members were injured. Southend pier in Essex – the longest pleasure pier in the world – will be closed on Tuesday to allow engineers to assess damage from a contractor’s barge tethered to the pier. A statement on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s website said the barge was forced into the pier by high winds and a heavy swell. A council spokeswoman said the vessel had been moored alongside the pier to carry out scheduled maintenance work. “The pier is not about to fall down, or anything like that, but it has caused some damage,” she said. Weather Flooding Wales Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 6, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.