Woman’s body found in northern England after being ‘swept away’ by flood water

Sheffield officials said the city’s new flood defenses held up against the worst flooding in years.

The new £21 million ($27 million) flood defense scheme protecting businesses in Sheffield’s Lower Don Valley opened last year along a stretch of the river.

“There was some ‘overtopping’ of the flood defences at the Lower Don Valley but they were not breached. Without these defences the impact would have been significantly worse,” said Councillor Mark Jones.

The council added that the temperature is expected to drop below freezing overnight.

Sheffield City Council said Thursday was officially the third-wettest day ever for the South Yorkshire region and Sheffield’s wettest November day on record.

The council said the city experienced 64 mm (2.5 inches) of rainfall on Thursday.

The Environment Agency added that water levels were equivalent to those seen during the 2007 floods that struck across England and killed 13 people and destroyed hundreds of houses.

A video of an elderly woman driving her mobility scooter through severe flooding in Sheffield has gone viral on social media.

Stephanie Jubb, 25, told Britain’s PA news agency that she captured the moment by chance while she was filming the flooded road. She added that she felt it illustrates the “northern spirit.”

“The woman just started driving and we were like “she’s not gonna do it, she’s not gonna do it” and then she just carried on,” Jubb told PA.

“She didn’t even lift her legs up or anything.”

According to Jubb the elderly woman drove back through the floodwaters on her scooter later on after a trip to the shops.

Residents are having to be evacuated from their homes in Doncaster by boat.

A woman told Britain’s PA news agency of how she had to be carried from her home through flood waters on a man’s back. While 24-year-old Lacey Hanrahan told PA how she and her baby had to be evacuated on a boat after water started entering her home.

“I just can’t believe how deep the water has got,” Hanrahan said. “It got to the point where I wasn’t able to walk out, so I was taken out on the boat,” she said.

“I live down the end where there’s a dip in the road, so we were one of the first to be affected.”

A flood gauge for the River Don, which is just northeast of Sheffield in northern England, shows its water levels rose over five meters in the past 24 hours.

According to the UK’s environment agency, the river’s water levels are expected to subside on Saturday.

Six severe “danger to life” flood warnings have been issued along the river.

The body of a woman has been pulled from flood water in Darley Dale after emergency services were called to a stretch of river in the early hours of Friday morning, Derbyshire Police say.

“The woman was reported as having been swept away by flood water in Rowsley and the body of what is believed to be the same woman was found in Darley Dale and was recovered at 10.40am,” a statement from the police said.

The statement added that formal identification “has yet to take place” but the family of the woman have been informed.

“Our thoughts are with them at this time,” police said.

Residents in Doncaster were being rescued by boats on Friday morning, after their street became flooded by waist-high water, according to Britain’s PA news agency.

Rescue teams also worked to lay sandbags around the area.

One resident, whose home began to fill with water at around 7 a.m., told PA that she’s “never known it to be this bad.”

Photos taken on Friday show the aftermath of a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.

The UK’s Environment Agency has issued six severe “danger to life” flood warnings in the north of England after the River Don’s water levels rose as a result of persistent heavy rainfall.

Samantha Ratcliffe-D’Arrigo told CNN she had been shopping at Meadowhall mall with her family since midday and realized at 5 p.m. that they wouldn’t be able to leave.

“Six of us were stranded,” Ratcliffe-D’Arrigo said.

She said her family bought pajamas from the fast fashion retailer, Primark, and “jumped into action” by buying chargers, food, coffee and tea to last them throughout the night.

Ratcliffe-D’Arrigo added that the family hunkered down in a coffee shop, where they used sofas and footstools to get comfortable.

“It’s an experience we’ll never forget. We’ll laugh about it for years to come,” she said.

Ratcliffe-D’Arrigo, who lives in Las Vegas with her husband, says they had traveled to the UK for a family wedding.

Questions have been raised about the UK’s railways can cope with climate change.

Flooding, heatwaves and storms have contributed heavily to the damage of railway infrastructure and on Thursday, the managing director of Scotland’s railways Alex Hynes said more investment would be needed to future-proof train services against rising temperatures.

“The railway in this country can no longer cope because of climate change,” he said at the Railway Industry Association conference in London.

A senior US-based scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Kevin Trenbert, previously told CNN that climate change leads to warmer and wetter environments, and sets the stage for heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

The UK Environment Agency issued five severe “danger to life” flood warnings in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on Friday morning after heavy rain.

The Agency issued the warnings along the River Don – in villages Barnby Dun, Kirk Bramwith, Kirk Sandall, South Bramwith and the Willow Bridge caravan site.

The Agency said river levels have risen as a result of the persistent heavy rainfall overnight, and that a multi-agency response is underway.

Doncaster council has advised residents in these areas via Twitter to evacuate their homes immediately.

Train operator Northern also warned passengers not to travel through Yorkshire – particularly around the city of Sheffield. Several rail lines have been blocked due to flooding, leaving thousands of commuters struggling to get to work on Friday morning.

In a statement Northern warned that “despite improving weather in many areas this morning, there remains potential for disruption to services throughout the day on Friday and, possibly into the weekend.”

The video below, posted by Sam Ramos-Pears and supplied to CNN shows the very real dangers of driving through flooded water:

A 12-year-old boy was forced to walk through knee-high water after the bus he was traveling on had to be evacuated because it could not drive any further.

“The water was up to my knees,” Daniel Harrison told PA news agency.

“I had to get home straight away because the water was absolutely freezing.”

He added that the road had become flooded after a river had overflowed.

Residents of a small village near Doncaster in South Yorkshire told PA news agency that the rainfall on Thursday was “almost biblical.”

“People’s cars were getting submerged in the water, gardens were ruined, you couldn’t drive anywhere. It was carnage,” Post Office worker Kathleen Overton said.

The village, Toll Bar, where Overton is from, suffered severe flooding in 2007.

“At times like this you get to see the strength of the community,” 71-year-old resident Roy Kerr told PA.

A group of young volunteers helped the man by laying sandbags and pumping out water.

“It wasn’t as bad as it was in 2007, but it easily could have been if it wasn’t for those lads.”

The torrential rain has disrupted large parts of the UK’s transport network, with train operators advising passengers not to travel on several lines.

Despite the rainfall clearing up in many areas, train company Northern warned that disruption could continue on into the weekend.

“Colleagues at Network Rail are inspecting the tracks and working hard to return them to normal, but at present we have no estimate as to when we will be able to operate services on the affected routes,” a spokesman for Northern said according to PA.

“Awful to see the terrible flooding across the North of England,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Friday morning.

“Thank you to the emergency staff & volunteers helping families through this difficult time.”

A resident from Sheffield, a city in northern England, told CNN that his property and business had been affected by the flooding.

“The whole of the ground is flooded,” Steven Burley said. “We have no power etc and it is very wet. Just in the process of relocating 25 staff upstairs!”

There is a lot of mud, sand and dirt everywhere,” he said.

Residents in parts of England have been forced to evacuate their homes after areas suffered a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.

As of Friday morning, the UK’s Environment Agency issued more than 100 flood warnings in the country’s north where “immediate action” is required, as well as five severe “danger to life” warnings.

According to Britain’s PA news agency, around 30 people were forced to seek refuge in a shopping mall in the city of Sheffield after they were left stranded because of gridlocked traffic.spokesperson from the Meadowhall shopping mall said night staff, security and members of the management team supported those throughout the night who were stranded, according to PA.

Saskia Hazelwood, 17, was among those stranded after her train was cancelled, according to PA. She says she spoke to police and security who told her it was “unsafe to leave.”

“We instantly started panicking and when we found out there was no way of getting home, we went into Primark and all bought spare clothes and we bought food and drinks to keep us going throughout the night,” she said.