‘Let’s just swim!’ Storm Babet leaves woman stranded in her home with seven cats as water surrounds her property in ‘worst flooding she’s ever seen’ – as Britain endures chaos from downpours and 70mph winds
- Rosemary Brown and her pets are trapped at home in Brechin, Scotland
Storm Babet has left a woman stranded in her home with her seven cats as water surrounds her property in the worst flooding she has ever seen.
Rosemary Brown and her pets haven’t been able to get out of her house in Brechin, Scotland, due to the shocking water levels.
Video footage shows the ‘river’ surrounding her and gushing viciously through the town’s streets as the storm batters the country.
Ms Brown said she has lived in her home for 25 years and that it was the worst flooding she had seen.
She joked she wouldn’t be able to leave ‘unless we swim’ or ‘canoes come and get us’.
Photos show emergency teams rescuing residents in Brechin and helping them to safety, some in rubber boats.
Rosemary Brown and her cats haven’t been able to get out of her house due to the shocking water levels
Rosemary looks at flood water outside her property onto River Street in Brechin, Scotland
Video footage shows the ‘river’ surrounding her home and gushing through the streets all around her
A woman wades through the water as members of the coastguard rescue people from flood waters in houses in Brechin
Members of the emergency services help local residents to safety in Brechin
A man and his dog being helped to safety amid knee deep water in Brechin
A woman looks out from her window as cars are submerged in water
Flood warnings are in place in Scotland, as well as parts of northern England and the Midlands.
Thousands were left without power and facing flooding from ‘unprecedented’ amounts of rain in east Scotland, while Babet is set to spread into northern and eastern England on Friday.
Babet has wrought chaos across the country, with residents being evacuated from homes and reports of cars and lorries overturning amid dangerous conditions on the roads. Motoring groups have warned against making unnecessary journeys.
The storm has claimed its second victim after a man was killed by a falling tree in an area of Scotland currently subject to a red ‘danger to life’ weather warning.
Read more: Storm Babet claims second victim: Driver is killed by falling tree
Police have confirmed the 56-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the B9127 at Whigstreet near Forfar, Angus, on Thursday, the second confirmed fatality in Storm Babet after a 57-year-old woman was swept into a river 20 miles away hours earlier.
A rare red ‘danger to life’ warning remains in place across parts of Angus and Perthshire in Scotland – with an additional alert in place from midnight – while amber ‘severe’ warnings apply down the spine of England and along Scotland’s east coast.
Yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place for much of the mainland save for the south coast and the west of Scotland; Brits have taken to social media to describe conditions as ‘biblical’.
Rosie Galloway looks at flood water outside her property in Brechin
A vehicle is stuck in a flooded street in Brechin, northeast Scotland, on October 20
Members of the emergency services help local residents to safety
Storm Babet is set to continue into Saturday with widespread impact on transport and infrastructure expected, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has said.
Sepa has issued 12 regional flood alerts, 16 localised flood warnings and five severe flood warnings across Scotland.
The agency said there remains a danger to life, with a large part of central and north-east Scotland expecting more severe weather throughout Friday and into Saturday.
South Aberdeenshire, Dundee and Angus and the eastern parts of Tayside have had high rainfall.
Sepa said the ‘highest concern’ areas are the North Esk and South Esk river.
A severe flood warning in the North Esk region is around Marykirk, with another flood warning for Logie Mill and Craigo.
The three severe warnings in the South Esk region are in Brechin, Kinnard/Bridge of Dun, and Finavon and Tannadice.
Sepa also warned there is an increasing risk across the eastern borders of Scotland and in East Lothian.
The UK is awash with weather warnings on Friday – including a rare red weather warning covering Angus, Perthshire and Dundee on Scotland’s east coast
Saturday will see some of the alerts wound down – with amber ‘severe’ warnings remaining in place down the spine of England and on Scotland’s east coast
Large areas of the UK are seeing flooding, with the Environment Agency issuing 44 flood warnings and 143 flood alerts today. The agency also has 79 flood alerts in effect across the rest of England.
The Met Office has also issued more than a dozen warnings for heavy rain and high winds covering most of Britain.
On Friday, issued a further red weather warning in Scotland for Saturday, saying further heavy rainfall could lead to more flooding and disruption.
It has warned of ‘prolonged and very heavy rain’ across Angus and Aberdeenshire, with as much as four inches of rain (100mm) over 24 hours from midnight.
In addition to the new red warning, the Met Office also issued a new amber warning for rain affecting the Grampian; Highlands & Eilean Siar; and Central, Tayside & Fife regions. This will also run for the whole of tomorrow.
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