Storm Babet: Six dead and travel chaos as warning flooding ‘could last for days’

Although the worst of Storm Babet has now passed, three “danger to life” flood warnings remain in place in Derbyshire after the death toll from floods caused by Storm Babet rose to six.

The most serious alerts are in force along the Derwent river at Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate, Cattle Market and Racecourse Park at Chaddesden.

Some 229 less serious flood warnings are in force across England.

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 per cent 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.”

More than half the staff manning a North Sea drilling platform have been airlifted to other sites after several of its anchors came loose during Storm Babet.

Coastguard helicopters were called upon to move 45 non-essential workers from the Stena Spey to neighbouring platforms and to Sumburgh on the Shetland Islands on Saturday due to the incident.

The rig is located around 146 miles east of Aberdeen.

Stena Drilling said four out of eight anchors became detached from the drilling unit because of the severe weather.

For the past 48 hours, large parts of the UK have been battered by Storm Babet, causing travel chaos. The Met Office is promising a drier and brighter day for many. But the travel disruption caused by the storm is set to continue through Sunday, with warnings not to travel on parts of the rail network. Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent of The Independent, has been checking the transport system on Sunday morning.

Network Rail says the routes linking Edinburgh with Inverness and Aberdeen will be badly affected by severe weather all day, and that speed restrictions will apply on other lines. “Major disruption to services in Scotland is expected until the end of the day,” is the message.

Anyone who makes it to Edinburgh may find their problems are only just be beginning, because the East Coast main line is heavily disrupted.

Saturday was chaotic on the line linking Scotland, northeast England and Yorkshire to London, with King’s Cross station closed for a time because of the sheer number of passengers trying to make journeys, and many of those people will be back to try again on Sunday – only to find delays and cancellations, including a number caused by staff shortage. LNER tickets for today are valid until Friday.

The main line from Sheffield to London is closed north of Derby because of flooding, and the lines from Derby to both Matlock and Sheffield.

Elsewhere, Skegness is cut off from Nottingham and Norwich is cut off from London due to flooding on the line north from Ipswich.

In Wales, Transport for Wales is warning of flooding on some lines, and is urging passengers not to travel south from Llandudno on the line to Snowdonia.

On the seas: the overnight Northland ferry from Aberdeen, Orkney and Shetland, which normally sails at 5pm, left 11 hours late and won’t reach Lerwick until 6pm tonight. This evening’s overnight sailing will be at least four hours late.

in the Western Isles, the main problem is residual disruption from Friday and Saturday on Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. The company had planned an additional pair of sailings between Ullapool and Stornaway to clear traffic from previous cancellations, but this has now been cancelled due to a technical issue with the vessels sewage system. And the first sailing from Tarbert to Uig is cancelled.

On the Channel, DFDS Ferries says “all services are currently operating with delays due to strong winds in the Channel”. The advice is to check-in as normal and you will be put on the first available sailing to Calais and Dunkirk.

Leeds Bradford airport was closed for 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, and knock-on disruption is continuing. Some planes overnight arrived at Leeds Bradford many hours late, and consequently there are further delays for departures today.

Hundreds of Scots have been told to evacuate their homes amid warnings Storm Babet could pose a “danger to life”.

Alexander Butler reports:

The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, where a red weather alert is in force, Police Scotland said.

The discovery made as Storm Babet bore down on the country, bringing high winds and “unprecedented” volumes of rain, forcing a town to be evacuated.

Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) helped four people trapped on car roof after floods to safety on Thursday 19 October as Storm Babet engulfed the Midlands.

On Friday, an amber weather warning for rain was in place for some parts of northern England including Yorkshire and Manchester, as well as some of the Midlands, including Nottingham.

Rescues efforts have been extended as three people have died and hundreds of homes have been flooded during Storm Babet.

Via social media platform X, NFRS warned people not to put their lives and those of the fire services at risk by attempting to drive through flood water.

Watch part of the rescue here:

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”.