More floods expected to hit devastated communities as wet weather returns

The Environment Agency is warning that there is still a ‘danger to life’ from further flooding, as devastated communities brace themselves for more wet weather.

Areas already battered by floodwater are on high alert for another rainy week, which is expected to cause more havoc and hamper the clean up operation. Seven severe flood warnings remain in place – all relating to the River Don in South Yorkshire – alongside a further 41 warnings and 98 alerts, stretching from Cornwall to near York.

However, the most severe problems are again expected around Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Earlier this week, communities around Sheffield were devastated by floodwater, with some residents even forced to stay overnight in a shopping centre.

The body of Annie Hall, the former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, was found in the River Derwent on Friday morning after she was engulfed by floodwater in Darley Dale, near Matlock.

Parts of the midlands and northern England are still dealing with the aftermath of Thursday and Friday’s torrential rain, which deluged several areas with one month’s worth in a day.

Now the UK is set for another unsettled week. Met Office meteorologist Sophie Yeomans said that while Sunday is forecast to be dry and sunny across the country, more rain is expected to hit overnight.

Ms Yeomans said a weather system moving across Europe will cause a ‘fair amount’ of rainfall across England and Wales, during a week that will be ‘unsettled in terms of rain.’

Downpours are expected to reach Northern Ireland first on Sunday evening, before hitting Wales and north-west England later in the night and then spreading across the rest of the UK into Monday morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Matlock on Friday, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met with flooded residents in Conisborough, South Yorkshire, on Saturday. Ms Yeomans said rain warnings may be issued later in the week as rivers remain swollen, adding: ‘Some catchments in the north are still sensitive at the moment’.

Snow could fall in parts of Scotland on Sunday night and Wales could get a dusting later in the week, Ms Yeomans added.

The coldest night of autumn was recorded in Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands on Saturday night, when the temperature dropped to -7.1C. Meanwhile, early this morning, Extinction Rebellion activists staged the sinking of a ‘classic suburban house’ on the River Thames, in an action called ‘our house is flooding’.

The group said flooding is a ‘political issue’and would see many parts of the UK underwater by