Two dog-walkers drown in swollen river and boy, 11, fights for life after being struck by lightning as storm lashes Britain



There are still 51 flood warnings and 78 alerts in place today - most in the North East and North West

Rain expected to die off today although there's still a risk of heavy rain in Kent and Sussex

Police condemn thieves who stole nine bikes from flooded cycle shop in Newcastle suburb



At least 400 properties have been flooded in the North, South West, Midlands and South East



River Ouse and its tributaries in North Yorkshire was still a critical concern last night



An area of low pressure recorded in north east of England is the lowest in the UK for September since 1981

Ravensworth village in North Yorkshire has had the highest amount of rain since Sunday


Two bodies have been pulled from a swollen river in North Wales and an 11-year-old schoolboy is fighting for his life after being struck by lightning as the most intense September rainstorms in 31 years swept across Britain.



The body of a 27-year-old local woman was pulled from the swollen River Clywedog near Wrexham shortly after 5pm yesterday and a second, unidentified body was discovered in the early hours of this morning.



A spokesman for North Wales Police said: 'Inquiries are ongoing. It is believed to be linked to the discovery of a woman's body yesterday evening. This has yet to be confirmed.'

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Devastation: The road is completely destroyed in Newburn where floodwater has wreaked havoc in the town leaving the infrastructure badly damaged

Balancing act: Newly built apartment Spencer Court in Newburn, Newcastle, pictured today, is perilously close to collapsing after heavy flooding in the area

Shocking: Residents had to be evacuated from the block as heavy rain washed away the gardens of the houses The River Clywedog was swollen yesterday following heavy rain and North Wales Fire Service's water recovery team had been assisting the search.

Police say they are treating the deaths as unexplained and have appealed for witnesses. At the Dorcan Academy, a secondary school in Swindon, staff dialled 999 after a schoolboy suffered severe burns and went into cardiac arrest when he was hit by the lightning bolt in the car park outside his school at 3.10pm. An ambulance service spokesman said they succeeded in restarting the boy’s heart and getting him ‘breathing for himself’ before transferring him to hospital. The schoolboy was conscious on arrival but was said to be in a ‘potentially life-threatening condition’ and was set to be transferred to the specialist major trauma centre at Frenchay Hospital, in Bristol.

He was named locally last night as Joe Compton, a year seven pupil.

A spokesman for the Great Western Hospital in Swindon said: ‘He is serious but stable and the last update we had was that he’s going to have to be transferred to another hospital in Bristol.’ Hitching a ride: Surfing instructor Oli Barrett is towed to work on a bodyboard by a friend driving a 4x4 in Castleford, West Yorkshire Surf skiing the road: Surf instructor Oli Barrett made the most of the flooded roads in Castleford, using his surf board to get to work

Well-wishers took to the internet to wish the youngster a swift recovery. Parents praised the speedy reaction of the teacher who is thought to have come to his rescue by administering CPR at the scene.

One wrote on Facebook: ‘That’s great news that he’s back with us and well done to the first aider who really did save his life.’

The incident happened as hundreds of families in northern England counted the cost of the rainstorm. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next 'She was beautiful inside and out': Friends pay tribute to... Teetering on the brink: Block of flats evacuated after... RAC refuses to help one of its members who was stranded... Share this article Share Today the rain is expected to die off, with sunny intervals for large parts of the country, although there's a risk of heavy downpours in Kent and Sussex. Last night millions of families were warned about more heavy rain as forecasters predicted the jet stream would do an about-turn and head south after battering northern England.

Dan Williams, spokesman for the Exeter-based Met Office, said kinks in the troublesome jet stream - the unusual position of which was blamed for this summer's atrocious weather - were at the root of the problem.

'Normally we would expect to see the weather come in from the west and head out from the east because of the jet stream', he said.

'But the jet stream has kinked and the weather system has got stuck in a trough, banked around and not gone away.'

Around 400 properties have already been flooded and another 105,000 residents were warned by the Environment Agency they were at risk of flooding.

The owner of a cycle shop in Newcastle not only had his business flooded, but discovered it had been looted, despite assurances from police it would be secure.



Salvaging: Business owners attempt to save equipment from their premises on Newburn High Street in Newburn, Newcastle upon Tyne Rubbish: The scene of devastation on Newburn High Street in Newburn, Newcastle upon Tyne with rubble and litter floating in the water Massive clean up mission: This car was caught up in the scene of devastation on Newburn High Street in Newburn, Newcastle caused by heavy flooding Keith Bradley of KB Cycles said about £20,000 to £30,000 of top-of-the-range bikes had been stolen after looters smashed their way into the flooded store.

He said: ‘I asked the police last night if the shop would be safe. They told me they [the police] couldn’t even get in so it would be as safe as it can be. But I’ve turned up this morning to find someone’s smashed the window and taken my stock. I’m going to employ my own security guard to protect the shop tonight.’

Police later arrested a man and a woman and recovered nine bikes.

Strange scenes: An aerial view showing cars travelling along the A64 Scarborough to Leeds road as it passes over flood water from the River Ouse in York Landscape: An aerial view showing flood water from the River Ouse in York, North Yorkshire

There were 57 flood warnings still in place yesterday afternoon across the UK.

Some river levels have begun to subside, but in North Yorkshire the situation remained critical. The River Ouse in York was 15ft (4.5m) above normal and large areas of surrounding countryside were still underwater yesterday.

In Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, the river running through the town reached the highest ever level. Emergency services used boats to evacuate elderly people from their homes following a power failure.

Waiting game: A man watching the floodwater rise in York as the River Ouse continues to fill

Evacuated: Office workers are forced out of their offices in York city centre yesterday morning Struggling down street: Pedestrians and motorists battered the torrential rain in Southhampton Ruined: Bales of straw float in flood water in a field near the Yorkshire town of Boroughbridge

The village of Ravensworth, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, had the highest rainfall in the UK with more than five inches (131mm) of rain falling in less than three days – almost three times the average September total.

Local farmer Jonathan Bradbrook, 46, prevented seven properties, including his own, from being flooded by using his digger to make a 10ft-wide gap in a hedge and dig a hole to divert floodwater into his fields and away from homes.

In the nearby village of Gilling West, retired postman Freddie Wilson, 72, summed up the feeling of gloom. He said: ‘It’s flooded everywhere. I have never seen it so bad. There is nothing anyone can do except pick up the pieces.

‘It was like a river flowing down the road when it happened. It came so suddenly it was if someone had opened a floodgate. Whatever defences they have put up do not seem to be working.’ THE WOMAN KILLED BY BRANCH AT KEW: 'ONE OFF WHO WAS BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUT'

Hit by branch: Erena Wilson died from head injuries at Kew Gardens A woman killed by a falling branch at Kew Gardens was described yesterday as a ‘one-off who was beautiful inside and out’.

Erena Louise Wilson, 31, an account manager for a film distribution company, died instantly from head injuries in the incident on Sunday afternoon.

She was walking with two friends along a footpath at the Royal Botanic Gardens in west London in strong winds and heavy rain when the 12-inch-thick branch from a 60ft-tall tree fell on to her. Miss Wilson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but lived in Hanwell, west London, with her boyfriend, who was not with her at the time of the accident.

Her parents, who live in New Zealand, said they were ‘trying to come to terms with our loss’. Onlookers and paramedics were unable to save her because she died instantly from 'non-survivable head injuries', West London Coroner’s Court heard. Friend Marcus Allan, 42, said: ‘She was a one-off, I have never met anyone like her. She was stunning, beautiful inside and out. Everyone loved her and she had a very dry sense of humour.’ Colleagues at media firm Deluxe Digital Studios in Southall where she worked have also paid tribute to their colleague, originally from New Zealand.

Speaking outside the inquest, human resources manager Gez Lowry said: 'It is difficult to put into words how we all feel following the tragic passing of our colleague and friend Erena Wilson. 'Whilst it’s hard to draw any comfort or understanding at this time, Erena’s colleagues are trying to focus on the good times they shared with her on a day to day basis. 'To us Erena was a star.' Saved: Firefighters rescue residents from Minerva Court in the Yorkshire town of Boroughbridge Pump: Water is pumped from the drains from a flooded in street into the swollen River Ouse that burst its banks after heavy rain in York Safe: Fire and Rescue officers evacuate a man and his pet cats after his home on Waters Lane in Gilling West, North Yorkshire Wellies on: A resident is helped as she leaves her home with a member of the fire service as flood waters from the River Wharfe rise in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire and right, a woman prepares to wade to a property as water levels continue to rise on the River Ouse after heavy rain in York

Ruined: The High Street, in Newburn, Newcastle, where flooding has left business owners devastated and deposited huge amounts of mud and debris Enjoying a pint: Men sit in flood waters outside a bar as water levels continue to rise on the River Ouse in York while a man clears water from his flooded taxi office

Shelter: Tiny piglets at Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh in Devon are as fed up with the wet weather Flood water has also caused widespread chaos in Morpeth, Durham, Chester-le-Street, Newburn in Newcastle and Stockton on Tees.

A 40-mile stretch of the A1 in North Yorkshire remained closed northbound but reopened southbound late yesterday and dozens of other main roads across the region were also closed by floodwater. Train services were also affected. Council leaders were warning the urgent nature of many road repairs could leave their already stretched annual budgets in disarray. Funds may have to be diverted from other areas to plug the gap, meaning unforeseen cuts to services or new infrastructure projects to boost growth being put on the back-burner. The Local Government Association, which represents more than 370 councils across England and Wales, is calling for government to set up an Emergency Capital Highways Maintenance Fund, as it did following the floods of 2007. As well as cracks and potholes, the persistent wet weather has caused large sections of roads, pavements and footpaths to collapse, bridges and tunnels to crumble and overwhelmed drainage systems to break.

The Met Office said that, despite more heavy showers in many areas yesterday, conditions would soon return to normal with the weather expected to ‘calm down’ today.

A spokesman said: ‘The worst is over and things are improving.’

It said the extraordinary downpour over recent days was caused by the deepest low-pressure system to have gone over the UK mainland in September since 1981.

The system sucked up hot air on its way here from a tropical storm, which increased its energy. Meteorologists said it was also re-invigorated by cold polar air from the north.

And extra rain fell because the system lingered over the UK for far longer than normal, due to the unusual positioning of the jet stream that influences weather systems.

As well as causing storms, a drop in atmospheric pressure can also result in unwanted health effects. Joint and muscle problems and headaches are often associated with a drop in pressure.

Disruption: The A1 in North Yorkshire is closed between J60 Bradbury, County Durham to J49 Dishforth, North Yorkshire as large sections of the road are filled with water Problem area: A cyclist avoids flood water on the closed A34 near Alderley Edge, Cheshire which has made both sides of the road impassable Clean-up: The mess left on the A34 bypass in Alderley Edge, Cheshire after it flooded

Jam: Twenty two miles of queuing traffic on the A19 through Teesside caused by the closure of the A1 because of flooding

