Articles | UK hit with flood warning

Girl killed as storms lash Britain

Published: Friday, 5 September 2008, 7:02AM

A 17-year-old girl has died after the 4x4 she was travelling in overturned and plunged into a river as torrential rain and high winds batter the UK.

The teenager and two other people were airlifted to hospital in a remote area of forestry in Powys, mid Wales after the incident which occurred at about 5.45pm in the Llyn Briane Reservoir area of the county.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for many parts of the country, and people have had to be evacuated from their homes.

Forecasters said there is more heavy rain to come and said there could be more flooding as the storms move through the east Midlands, up central England and into Yorkshire and the North East.

The Environment Agency has published two severe flood warnings for the Rhymney and Taff rivers in Wales as well as issuing about 40 other flood warnings on rivers in England and Wales.

Many roads in Worcestershire and Herefordshire are swamped by floodwater and the main route between Tenbury Wells and Bromyard is said to be impassable.

Other routes are described as passable with care, although the A465 at Stoke Lacy, near Bromyard, is submerged under 2ft 6in of water.

The South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it had received more than 350 flooding calls in a six-hour period, including for people trapped in their cars by rising water.

Roads are impassable in many areas of Wales while police in Gloucestershire warned motorists to travel only if necessary because of standing water on many roads.

Gloucestershire's biggest agricultural show at the Batsford showground in Moreton-in-Marsh has had to be cancelled following an 11th-hour inspection of the ground.

Liscombe, near Reading, was the wettest part of the country, experiencing 51mm of rainfall while Hawarden in north Wales saw 44mm, followed by Shawbury, Shropshire, which was hit by 37mm. Plymouth, Devon registered 36mm and Bournemouth, Dorset recorded 31mm of rain over the day.

Rail company Arriva Trains Wales also advised passengers not to travel, with many routes to and from Cardiff suspended because of flooding and landslips.

Phil Rothwell, head of flood risk at the Environment Agency, said people in affected areas needed to keep a careful eye on weather websites and watch television for Met Office updates.

He said: "We've had severe rain over south Wales and southwest England for the last 24 hours. Rivers are rising very rapidly and bursting their banks, also the drainage system that takes the water away from our urban areas is also failing."