Storm Babet: Trapped residents airlifted from homes as flood waters rise – live

People in up to 100 homes across Angus in East Scotland have been rescued from their flooded homes, with some airlifted out, a local authority official has said.

Jacqui Semple, head of risk, resilience and safety for Angus Council, said people were rescued from between 80 to 100 homes across the region.

In Bridge of Dun, residents were airlifted out via helicopter, while in other areas those stranded were rescued by boats, including canoes.

No-one is now thought to be stranded.

Ms Semple praised the response from those in Angus and elsewhere, saying offers of accommodation have come from the local area and further afield.

She said: “Fortunately the Met Office update and our Sepa update this morning is showing that we have an improving picture and the red warnings and our amber warnings they have been reduced in timescales to 6pm.

“So that means we are looking at definite improvements in our river levels.

“We’re not out of the woods by a long shot. There’s still a lot of rain to come through, but less so, and there is still a lot of water lying right across Angus. Lots of water in the upper catchments that will still have to come down into our rivers.”

Twenty-four hours after a Tui plane skidded off the runway at Leeds Bradford airport, take-offs and landing have resumed. The first flight out on Saturday took off at 2.17pm. It was a Jet2 flight to Heraklion, which was supposed to depart at 6am.
Four minutes later, another Jet2 aircraft took off for Alicante. Operations were halted around 2pm on Friday when the Boeing 737 Max made a “runway excursion” after a normal flight from Corfu. No one was hurt in the incident, but the closure of the runway triggered dozens of cancellations, diversions and delays – affecting thousands of passengers at the start of the main half-term week. Tui said in a statement on Saturday: “We would like to apologise to all those impacted by the ongoing closure of Leeds Bradford airport following an incident that took place shortly after landing on TOM3551 on Friday 20 October. “The safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and can confirm there were no reported injuries, with all passengers disembarking the aircraft via the steps. “Tui customers due to travel on their holiday today will depart from Manchester Airport and have been contacted directly by our customer service team. “Tui Airways is assisting the AAIB [Air Accidents Investigation Branch] with their investigation and working hard to support the reopening of Leeds Bradford airport.”

King’s Cross Station in London is currently closed, as crowd control measures are in place because of heavy disruption on the railways in the North East, Network Rail has said.

A spokesperson said: “While many of the country’s rail services are running well today, we’re sorry to say that there is still severe disruption in areas worst-hit by Storm Babet, including Scotland, the North East and East Midlands.

“In particular, King’s Cross station has crowd-control measures in place this afternoon while LNER services to the North East are severely disrupted. We are asking people to check before they travel today, to avoid wasted journeys.”

Footage shared on social media appeared to show large crowds gathering outside the station early on Saturday afternoon.

Three “danger to life” flood warnings have been issued in Derbyshire, where an MP says around 400 homes have already been flooded.

The warnings are in place around the River Derwent in Derbyshire, whose water levels have reached record highs.

The alerts are for Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate and Cattle Market, and Racecourse Park at Chaddesden.

Storm Babet has been causing travel disruption as well as flooding. Simon Calder, The Independent’s travel expert, reports:

LNER, the main train operator on the East Coast main line linking London with Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland, is urging travellers: “Please do NOT travel today.

“Following extensive disruption on Friday 20 October, crews and trains are displaced across the country and services today are subjec to short-notice cancellation.

“Many rail routes are suspended due to flooding and an extremely limited service is in operation.

“We also expect services to be disrupted throughout Sunday 22 October.

“Your LNER ticket will be valid for travel between Monday 23 October and Friday 27 October.”

Many rail lines in northern England are closed because of flooding, including Harrogate to Leeds, Leeds to Skipton, Sheffield to Lincoln, Doncaster to Leeds and Doncaster to Sheffield and Rotherham.

Between Hexham and Carlisle, a tree is blocking the railway.

England footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold was involved in a minor car crash after a pylon was blown over in strong winds.

The Liverpool defender’s Range Rover collided with a car after the 40-foot pylon fell into a country lane near Knutsford, Cheshire, on Friday morning, The Sun reported.

Cheshire Police said no-one was hurt in the incident; which came as Storm Babet swept across the country – causing widespread flooding and high winds, killing three people.

Emergency crews have had to rescue 20 people from a care home in Derbyshire as cars were submerged in flood water in the county, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue have said.

More than 100 people had to be rescued in Derbyshire on Friday and the service declared a major incident due to the impact of Storm Babet.

Clive Stanbrook, area manager at Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service, warned flood waters could continue to rise near Derby and across south Derbyshire on Saturday.

Mr Stanbrook told BBC Breakfast: “We rescued over 100 people yesterday. For example, just on one road in Chesterfield in the north of the county, we rescued 60 people when that (water level) became up to the top of cars and several HGVs were stuck as well.

“There is a village called Duffield in Derbyshire and we rescued 20 people from one care home there.

“Also there were 18 houses that were evacuated in a village called Ironville, again in the north of the county.”

Experts say Babet is an “extraordinary” storm which has been fuelled by several factors, including the impact of a typhoon on jet stream and rising temperatures.

“Storm Babet is an extraordinary piece of weather caused by the interaction of a number of linked conditions across the world,” Dr Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said.

“The jet stream, which plays such an important role in the weather in Europe, has been squeezed into a weird position, partly as a result of a powerful typhoon that hit Japan last week.”

Stuti Mishra has more below:

Three inches of rain fell overnight on Friday in Sheffield, the Met Office has said.

Further rain is expected in the area on Saturday as Storm Babet lashed the country with heavy downpours.

Pp to 100mm (4in) could fall in 24 hours in some areas of Scotland, where a rare red weather alert is in place.

People told to evacuate parts of Scotland due to the flood risk from Storm Babet should comply with the advice, the country’s first minister Humza Yousaf has said.

Residents in parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire have been advised to evacuate after a rare red warning for rain was issued by authorities.

“A Red Weather Warning remains in place for Angus & parts of Aberdeenshire,” Mr Yousaf wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Please comply with the advice being given, particularly if you are asked to evacuate, it is for your own safety. We continue to engage with local partners & emergency services to coordinate our response.”