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Heavy rain has caused flooding across part of northwest England and Scotland, blocking several railway lines and forcing trains to run slowly on others.
Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, as well as the Scottish Borders, were all deluged by rain overnight on Wednesday, with roads becoming impassable due to surface flooding.
Northern Rail has introduced replacement buses on parts of the route between Barrow-in-Furness and Carlisle due to severe weather flooding the track.
Trains into Glasgow were also affected as the city was hit flooding just days before it hosts the Cop26 climate conference.
ScotRail services were running with delays of up to 50 minutes on Thursday.
Passengers were warned not to travel north of Preston on the Avanti West Coast line.
The Environment Agency is also urging against travel and has issued a number of flood warnings and urged that people “don’t risk driving through floodwater”.
They wrote on Twitter: “It’s deeper than it looks, and just 30cm of water can float your car.”
In Glasgow, videos posted on social media showed cars stranded in water which swamped city streets.
The Environment Agency warned people in Cumbria to remain vigilant due to the continued risk of significant flooding over the weekend. It said 40 properties have already been flooded.
Ben Lukey, the agency’s flood duty manager, said: “Our thoughts are with local residents in Cumbria, who have sadly experienced the effects of the heavy and persistent we have seen.”
In England, 11 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – were in place across parts of the Lake District National Park. Ferries on Windermere were suspended on Thursday and were likely to remain out of service on Friday after the operators said heavy rain had pushed up lake levels “to a extent whereby we cannot land safely”.
A total of 16 flood alerts – meaning flooding is possible – have also been issued in the Lake District and in parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
In Scotland, 20 flood warnings have been issued including in areas near Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In north Wales, flood alerts have been issued for Anglesey and areas of Caernarfonshire.
The Met Office has put out two amber weather warnings out for heavy rain in Cumbria and southwest Scotland.
This means there is a very high chance of flooding, power cuts, damage to buildings, difficult driving conditions and as well as the threat of “danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater”.
Andy Page, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist explained: “Strong south westerly winds, a ‘conveyor belt’ of warm air and a slow moving weather front, have resulted in very large amounts of rainfall in some parts of the UK during the last 36 hours.
He went on to point out that Honister Pass in Cumbria recorded 361.6mm of rainfall in just under 36 hours. This follows a number of extremely heavy downpours in the area over the past 16 years in 2005, 2009, 2015 and 2020.
“The rainfall continues to present a threat of flooding and transport disruption, with difficult driving conditions and possible road closures.”
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