More than 1,300 households in Bedfordshire have been urged by police to evacuate their homes due to a risk of flooding as swathes of the UK braced for Storm Bella.
Torrential rain has brought widespread flooding elsewhere and people have had to be rescued from vehicles and homes. The arrival of Storm Bella on Boxing Day will bring further downpours and winds of up to 70mph in exposed coastal locations, according to the Met Office.
Between 15 and 25mm of rainfall is likely to fall in Wales and south-west England, and up to 60mm is expected over some hills, the Met Office said.
The arrival of Bella, which follows relatively calm and cold conditions across the UK on Friday, has led the Met Office to issue an amber wind warning for travel disruption in south Wales and across southern England on Saturday.
A yellow warning of wind for the whole of England and Wales has been issued and will be in force from 3pm on Boxing Day, while large swathes of the west coast of Scotland came under a yellow weather warning for “persistent, heavy rain” at 9am.
The Met Office also issued a yellow weather warning for Northern Ireland from midday, saying that around 30mm of rain was likely to fall in about 6 hours, leading to some surface water flooding.
In Ireland, Met Éireann issued a countrywide status yellow wind and rain warning commencing at midday on Saturday, with gusts of 55 to 68mph expected inland on Saturday afternoon.
Bedfordshire police “strongly urged” residents living near the River Great Ouse in north Bedfordshire to seek alternative accommodation due to concerns over flooding on Friday night.
Supt Steve Ashdown, who is leading the response, said officers had visited more than 1,300 homes in the area on Thursday. “The river is currently at heightened levels and we’re predicting a significant flooding event by 8pm this evening,” he said in a video on Twitter.
“If you received one of those notices last night, you are in one of those properties that are most at risk from this flood. We would encourage you to leave if it is safe for you to do so, as soon as you are able to do so. Appreciate the timing of this on Christmas Day is not great, but the risk to you and your family … is significant.”
Ashdown asked residents who were able to leave their homes to do so in a “Covid-safe way” if possible, recommending they go to a single location and stay there until it is safe to return.
Bedford International Athletic Stadium is being used as an emergency assistance centre for people forced to leave their property.
In a statement, Bedford borough council warned of “significant levels of flood waters to impact Bedford and other parts of the borough” and said a Covid-safe centre had been set up at the arena. Bromham village hall is also being used as a refuge for people who have left their homes.
Due to the flooding, residents have been permitted to go to others’ homes, despite the tier 4 coronavirus rules in place.
Elsewhere in Bedfordshire, nine people and three dogs were rescued using an inflatable boat from a flood-hit property in the village of Harrold. Two severe flood warnings and 18 flood warnings were issued for the area in and around the county by the Environment Agency.
Meanwhile, Northamptonshire police continued to urge people to stay away from the Billing Aquadrome holiday park after hundreds were evacuated on Christmas Eve due to high water levels on the River Nene. On Thursday the Environment Agency issued two severe flood warnings for the river, indicating a risk to life.
The force said on Twitter that water levels had reached 5ft in some places, with emergency services using boats to take residents in the worst-hit areas to safety.
Most of those evacuated were able to find overnight accommodation with friends and family, with a special exemption from Covid-19 restrictions, while about 100 people were transferred to a hotel.
Det Supt Jamie Piscopo said: “Emergency services are working hard to ensure residents can return to the site as soon as possible, however it is not currently safe to do so. We’d urge them to stay away until such time as it is safe to return.”
As of 5am on Boxing Day, England had 78 flood warnings and 99 flood alerts, Wales had two flood warnings and five flood alerts, and seven warnings and 13 alerts had been issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
