UK weather: Night of carnage as 94mph Storm Henk leaves cars crushed by trees & roads underwater – but relief in sight
THE UK has faced a night of carnage after 94mph Storm Henk left cars crushed by trees and roads underwater – but relief is in sight.
Brits were told not to leave their homes during the storm yesterday, with forecasters issuing a danger to life warning.
Severe flood warnings were still in place overnight for many parts of England, Scotland and Wales.
But the Met Office said that today will see “sunny spells”, with no weather warnings in place.
The forecast will come as a relief after Storm Henk brought misery to much of Britain yesterday.
Paramedics and firefighters scrambled to a road in Orpington, south London after a woman was crushed by a tree.
The London Fire Brigade urged people in the capital to stay indoors and to only travel if they need to.
In Birmingham a brave passer-by rescued a three-year-old child and a driver from a car submerged in flood water.
The hero then secured the vehicle to the bridge to prevent it being washed away, local cops said.
A father also rescued an unresponsive woman from the freezing River Severn in Worcester after spotting her “floating like a mannequin”,
Colin McGarva, 31, waded into the fast-flowing river to save the motionless 50-year-old woman.
Cops in Gloucestershire said that roads are closed near Kemble after a tree fell onto a car.
A spokesperson said: “”Road closures are in place after a tree fell on a car on the Tetbury Road near Kemble on Tuesday.
“Emergency services were called at around 3.15pm with reports of a large fallen tree on the A433 Tetbury Road near the junction with the A429, between Tetbury and Cirencester.
“Motorists are advised that the road is expected to remain closed overnight and into Wednesday,”
“No further information is available at this time.”
Families were even forced to abandon their caravans in the Billing Aquadrome in Northampton, this afternoon, thanks to the torrid conditions.
A Met Office map revealed that the Home Counties, East Anglia and the south Midlands were worst affected by the storm.
Forecasters issued an amber weather warning for these regions, warning of flying debris and a “danger to life”.
But all of Wales and much of England from Cornwall to Yorkshire were also caught in punishing gales and downpours.
Overlapping yellow warnings for wind and rain were in place until 9pm yesterday.