Storm Bert to wreak more havoc as more than 200 flood warnings issued across the UK for Sunday

24 November 2024, 00:55

Three people have died after Storm Bert wreaked havoc across the UK - with forecasters now warning of a flood risk on Sunday caused by heavy rain and thawing snow.

More than 200 flood alerts are in place across England, Wales and Scotland, after the snow and downpours brought by Storm Bert during Saturday.

The storm sparked travel chaos after hitting the UK, with roads forced to close and trains cancelled in the "multi-hazard weather event".

Three drivers died on Saturday - including one man who was crushed to death in his car by a falling tree.

Another accident happened just before 1am on Saturday - as Storm Bert swept in.

"The driver, a 34-year-old man from Bradford, was given emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later," West Yorkshire Police said.

A local resident told the Mirror: "When I looked outside, I could see the car had spun off the road and smashed into a wall.

"It was freezing last night and the road can be treacherous in icy conditions. We’ve seen accidents here before, but nothing as tragic as this."

Read more: Storm Bert hits UK in 'multi-hazard weather event' as roads forced to close and trains cancelled

Northamptonshire Police say later that a different man died in a two-car collision on the A45 on Saturday morning.

More than 60,000 homes lost power due to the weather.

Flights were also grounded at Newcastle Airport, with several flights either delayed or cancelled.

The airport's online arrival board showed flights instead diverted to Belfast and Edinburgh.

"Due to Storm Bert, the airport has had continuous, heavy snow this morning," Newcastle Airport said on Twitter.

"Our snow team is operational and are working hard to keep any disruption to a minimum and we will provide a further update later this morning.

"Passengers are advised to visit our website for the latest flight information and to contact their airline directly if they have any queries."

Ferry operator CalMac - which serves the west coast of Scotland - cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.

P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland's south west on Saturday.

The Met Office said Storm Bert was a "multi-hazard event" with "strong winds, some high snowfall accumulation, heavy rain, all in various different parts of the UK".

Meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the storm's arrival was following a "relatively quiet" night on Friday with temperatures at around minus 4C across parts of Scotland and minus 1C in eastern England.

"We'll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning," Mr McGivern said.

"This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.

"You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.

"So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning."

He said temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a "rapid thaw" by the afternoon.

"The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the South West, particularly over south-facing hills, that's where we're likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain," the meteorologist said.