Hundreds of Flood Warnings and Travel Disruptions Are Caused by Heavy Rain in the UK
Around 50 people were evacuated to London due to rising water. Heavy rain caused similar scenes in parts of France and Germany.
Here's what you need to know about rain.
A storm dumped heavy rain on southern England on Thursday, flooding an already saturated area.
In France, firefighters and local authorities have carried out more than 700 evacuations since Saturday.
An army is sent to Germany to help strengthen the dikes.
There are hundreds of flood warnings in place across England.
Heavy rain that hit parts of England overnight has sparked a wave of weather warnings and travel disruptions, forecasters and officials said, warning that flooding in some rivers could last for days.
According to the British government, almost 300 flood warnings were issued across England on Friday morning, indicating that flooding is expected. The warnings covered villages and waterways from the Midlands to the east and south coasts.
In addition, authorities issued hundreds more flood warnings for various communities and rivers, indicating possible flooding.
Continued flooding is also expected in parts of the River Severn, Britain's longest river, and the River Trent in the Midlands over the next five days. Parts of the River Thames, which flows through London, may be flooded from Saturday to Monday.
While rain this time of year in England is not uncommon, an unsettling storm rushed across Southern England on Thursday, bringing heavy swaths of rain. Officials for the Great Western Railway said on Thursday that flooding had closed several routes, causing headaches for passengers. By early Friday, the railway company was delivering more bad news, telling passengers that it was still experiencing significant disruptions in its network because of flooding in multiple locations.
Officials in Nottinghamshire County, in the Midlands, declared a major incident because of flooding along the Trent River on Thursday. A shelter was set up for those whose homes were flooded or were at risk of flooding.
According to the London Fire Brigade, around 50 people were evacuated due to rising water in east London on Thursday. Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were called to flood the area. Photos on social media show water covering streets and sidewalks.
Weather conditions in the city also caused a party boat to sink near Temple Pier, about a mile up the Thames from Westminster.
Jorge Gallardo, owner of Bar & Co., who operates the ship, said Friday that it had operated the bar for 15 years and was concerned about its sinking. Photos from the crime scene showed the London skyline in the background, behind a partially submerged boat with its mast sticking out of the water.
In France, too, people have fled rising waters.
Across the English Channel, French TV channels and media broadcast images from the far north of the country this week. They showed people wading waist-high in the middle of a street, water pouring into lounges and restaurants and rescuers rescuing residents in rubber. Boats and tractors.
According to the prefecture, the floods were hardest hit in Pas-de-Calais, where more than 2,000 homes and almost 60 businesses were affected. Firefighters and local authorities have carried out more than 700 evacuations since Saturday. The region received relief on Friday as water levels fell, with France's national weather service Météo France lowering flood levels from the highest alert level. However, the government's flood intelligence service said rain forecast along the north coast "could slow the decline or even cause river levels to rise further".
According to the prefecture, around 500 households were without electricity.
Many residents said they were exhausted, having only just recovered from severe flooding in November.
According to Le Parisien, French Environment Minister Christophe Béchu promised an “extraordinary response” during a visit to the disaster areas on Thursday. The newspaper estimates that more than 100 million euros will be spent on flood protection in the region.
He was joined by French government spokesman Olivier Véran, who suggested that climate change had played a role in the recurring floods. “We fear that yearly there will be more fires in the summer and more floods in the winter,” he told RMC Radio. In Germany, rainy days caused dams to overflow.
Due to persistent heavy rains that caused widespread flooding, the Bundeswehr was sent on Friday to reinforce dikes in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Authorities declared a state of emergency in several parts of the country as swelling rivers flooded villages and farmland. After more than a week of heavy rain, temporary dikes and dams are no longer functioning in some areas.
floods affect many regions, from Bavaria in the south to Saxony-Anhalt in the east to North Rhine-Westphalia in the west. Chancellor Olaf Scholz travelled to the affected areas several times to assess the damage and thank the emergency services.
The small village of Schenkenschanz, a hamlet of Kleve in the western part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, turned into an island when a river flooded the surrounding fields and cut off the roads. Like many residents of the affected areas, residents had to use boats to leave their villages.
The German weather service lifted its heavy rain warning on Friday morning, saying that while more precipitation was expected, some of it would come in the form of snow if temperatures fell below freezing.