The Met is reporting Wednesday brought the third major storm of the month, cutting power and forcing many people to evacuate because of the flooding. Scotland bore the brunt of Frank, with hundreds of homes being flooded, leading to evacuations in the border towns of Dumfries, Hawick and Peebles.
The military has been called in again to help in clean-up operations as over 6,700 properties were flooded in parts of northern England. In York, soldiers were deployed to deliver supplies to the Fosse Barrier, a flood defence system which was overwhelmed by water.
“We need to get cables, we need to get equipment across to the other side. The Foss Barrier is basically on an island, or it has been over the last few days. So without a bridge, we can’t get cables or equipment across. It’s a self-sufficient building in normal times. All the equipment, the electricity, all what’s needed to be run is there, but we can’t get it in from the outside now,” explained Mark Fuller an environment agency worker, according to EuroNews.
On Wednesday, 31 flood warnings still remained in place for parts of Cumbria and Yorkshire. In northern Ireland, thousands of homes were without power, and fallen trees littered the roads. There are still multiple air passenger delays as authorities attempt to get things back to normal working order.
Storm Frank roared ashore on Tuesday evening and during Wednesday, says the BBC, with wind gusts of up to 130 km an hour, and with rainfall amounts varying from 48.8 mm in Keswick, Cumbria to 85.6mm in Tyndrum in Perthshire. New Years Eve is expected to be a lot brighter, but will be a somewhat colder day with sunshine and showers, some heavy at times, with hail and thunder during the afternoon.
A cold night will follow, with widespread frost expected. While New Year’s Day will be fine and dry in many areas, the weekend holds more bad news as clouds, rain and winds return from the west. The Met is saying the likes of Storm Frank are not that unusual because this is the time of year when this kind of weather is to be expected.
