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

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.

Six people are now suspected to have died in weather-related incidents during Storm Babet, reports suggest.

Two women were killed in a crash on the M4 involving a lorry and four cars, according to the MailOnline, with a teenage driver was killed in another crash hours later.

It came after West Mercia Police said a man in his 60s had died in the storm after getting caught in fast-flowing floodwaters in Shropshire.

Two people were also killed in separate incidents in Angus, Scotland, including a 57-year-old woman who was swept into a river and 56-year-old John Gillan whose vehicle was hit by a tree.

A “small handful” of homes will still be without power on Sunday after around 100,000 customers were affected by power cuts due to Storm Babet, the Energy Network Association (ENA) said.

Ross Easton from the ENA said: “99% of customers have been reconnected.

“With the exception of a small handful of homes where access remains challenging, all customers will be reconnected tonight.

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and our engineering and customer service teams for their hard work.”

Storm Babet is wreaking havoc in the north of the UK, with two people dead, hundreds of homes flooded or evacuated and another day of torrential rain to come.

A rare red weather warning was extended for parts of Scotland as amber and yellow warnings are in place for the rest of the UK with heavy downpours set to move south on Friday and into the weekend.

Follow the link below for pictures of the impact the storm is having:

Time-lapse footage shows the River North Esk bursting its banks and turning into a raging torrent as Storm Babet lashed Scotland.

Captured by Farson Digital Watercams in the Angus village of Edzell, the clip shows the river dramatically rising on Thursday evening.

“That’s a genuinely terrifying scene,” one person wrote, commenting on the video.

In the space of 18 hours – from 8:40am on Thursday to 4:10am on Friday 20 October – water levels surge before the webcam disconnects.