Storm Dennis swept across Britain on Sunday with the army drafted in to help deal with heavy flooding and high winds, officials warning it could be “life-threatening” in South Wales. The government weather agency issued a rare red warning for the area, saying there was a risk of “significant impacts from flooding” that included a “danger to life from fast-flowing water, extensive flooding to property and road closures”.
According to BBC, more than 300 flood warnings are on place including five severe warnings in England, which means there is a danger to life, extending from Scotland’s River Tweed to Cornwall in southwest England. Winds of over 90 miles per hour (150 kilometers per hour) were recorded in Aberdaron, south Wales. Major incidents were declared in south Wales and parts of England on Sunday.
Advertisement
It comes as the government said it would not be able to protect all homes from flooding. New Environment Secretary George Eustice denied the government had been caught off guard by the floods, which come a week after the UK was hit by another major storm, Ciara.
The Ministry of Defence had earlier deployed troops in West Yorkshire, northern England, which suffered badly from flooding caused by last weekend’s Storm Ciara. “Our armed forces are always ready to support local authorities and communities whenever they need it,” said defence minister Ben Wallace.
British Airways and EasyJet confirmed they had grounded flights, while two bodies were pulled from rough seas off the south England coast on Saturday as the storm barrelled in. One of the men is assumed to have been the subject of a search triggered when an LPG tanker reported that one of its crew was unaccounted for. He was last seen several hours earlier.
