Storm Babet: Death toll rises to six as floods cause chaos – live

More than half the staff manning a North Sea drilling platform have been airlifted to other sites after several of its anchors came loose during Storm Babet.

Coastguard helicopters were called upon to move 45 non-essential workers from the Stena Spey to neighbouring platforms and to Sumburgh on the Shetland Islands on Saturday due to the incident.

The rig is located around 146 miles east of Aberdeen.

Stena Drilling said four out of eight anchors became detached from the drilling unit because of the severe weather.

For the past 48 hours, large parts of the UK have been battered by Storm Babet, causing travel chaos. The Met Office is promising a drier and brighter day for many. But the travel disruption caused by the storm is set to continue through Sunday, with warnings not to travel on parts of the rail network. Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent of The Independent, has been checking the transport system on Sunday morning.

Network Rail says the routes linking Edinburgh with Inverness and Aberdeen will be badly affected by severe weather all day, and that speed restrictions will apply on other lines. “Major disruption to services in Scotland is expected until the end of the day,” is the message.

Anyone who makes it to Edinburgh may find their problems are only just be beginning, because the East Coast main line is heavily disrupted.

Saturday was chaotic on the line linking Scotland, northeast England and Yorkshire to London, with King’s Cross station closed for a time because of the sheer number of passengers trying to make journeys, and many of those people will be back to try again on Sunday – only to find delays and cancellations, including a number caused by staff shortage. LNER tickets for today are valid until Friday.

The main line from Sheffield to London is closed north of Derby because of flooding, and the lines from Derby to both Matlock and Sheffield.

Elsewhere, Skegness is cut off from Nottingham and Norwich is cut off from London due to flooding on the line north from Ipswich.

In Wales, Transport for Wales is warning of flooding on some lines, and is urging passengers not to travel south from Llandudno on the line to Snowdonia.

On the seas: the overnight Northland ferry from Aberdeen, Orkney and Shetland, which normally sails at 5pm, left 11 hours late and won’t reach Lerwick until 6pm tonight. This evening’s overnight sailing will be at least four hours late.

in the Western Isles, the main problem is residual disruption from Friday and Saturday on Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. The company had planned an additional pair of sailings between Ullapool and Stornaway to clear traffic from previous cancellations, but this has now been cancelled due to a technical issue with the vessels sewage system. And the first sailing from Tarbert to Uig is cancelled.

On the Channel, DFDS Ferries says “all services are currently operating with delays due to strong winds in the Channel”. The advice is to check-in as normal and you will be put on the first available sailing to Calais and Dunkirk.

Leeds Bradford airport was closed for 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, and knock-on disruption is continuing. Some planes overnight arrived at Leeds Bradford many hours late, and consequently there are further delays for departures today.

Hundreds of Scots have been told to evacuate their homes amid warnings Storm Babet could pose a “danger to life”.

Alexander Butler reports:

The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, where a red weather alert is in force, Police Scotland said.

The discovery made as Storm Babet bore down on the country, bringing high winds and “unprecedented” volumes of rain, forcing a town to be evacuated.

Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) helped four people trapped on car roof after floods to safety on Thursday 19 October as Storm Babet engulfed the Midlands.

On Friday, an amber weather warning for rain was in place for some parts of northern England including Yorkshire and Manchester, as well as some of the Midlands, including Nottingham.

Rescues efforts have been extended as three people have died and hundreds of homes have been flooded during Storm Babet.

Via social media platform X, NFRS warned people not to put their lives and those of the fire services at risk by attempting to drive through flood water.

Watch part of the rescue here:

Communities in Scotland are braced for more flooding after Storm Babet brought “unprecedented” rainfall and a red warning was extended.

First Minister Humza Yousaf warned of continuing dangers as he paid tribute to two people who died.

Rescues took place throughout Friday as hundreds of houses were flooded after the River South Esk breached its banks.

Trains, planes and ferries are being affected by Storm Babet – which, warns the Met Office, will bring “exceptional rainfall and impactful wind for some”.

Forecasters have issued a red warning for rain for parts of eastern Scotland, affecting Angus and Aberdeenshire. The warning is in force from 6pm on Thursday through to 12 noon on Friday. It is issued because of “a danger to life from flood water, extensive flooding to homes and businesses and severely disrupted travel conditions”.

A 57-year-old woman has died after being swept away in a river as a fierce storm batters parts of Scotland, bringing “unprecedented” downpours and forcing a whole town to evacuate during a rare red weather alert.

Thousands of homes were left without power or facing their properties being flooded during Storm Babet as the Scottish government warned residents in affected areas that the worst was yet to come.

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.