Seven severe flood warnings remain in place in South Yorkshire in areas along the River Don, with a potential danger to life.

Forty-one further warnings requiring immediate action were also in place as water levels remained high in flooded communities and travel continued to be disrupted.

Hundreds of homes were flooded in the village of Fishlake, which was cut off by water from the Don. Many parts of the village are under almost a metre (3ft) of water and only accessible by boat or tractor. About half of the 700 residents were forced to evacuate.

Claire Holling, who runs the Old Butchers cafe, said that while some residents were staying in the upper floors of their homes, others had spent Saturday in the Hare and Hounds pub or had sought shelter and company in the church.



The Hare and Hounds was sending hot meals to people trapped in their homes and firefighters were in the village to provide rescue if necessary, Holling said.

Pam Webb, who lives in Fishlake and runs a spa hotel there, told the BBC her home and business had been flooded and that the situation in her community was “absolutely devastating”. She said it would be impossible to estimate the cost of the damage.

Webb said Doncaster council had not dispatched representatives to the evacuation sites, nor was it communicating with affected people and rescue crews were hampered in their efforts because they did not know the local area.

“Why has Doncaster council not been in attendance to at least help with the evacuation of elderly and vulnerable people?” she said. “We’ve been failed on a level of significant magnitude by Doncaster council … I don’t know how they can possibly say that they’ve given us any support.”

The council was contacted for comment.

Cars in Rotherham and Doncaster were almost completely submerged on Sunday morning, roads were closed and many trains cancelled in parts of the east Midlands because of flooded tracks.

Water levels were still rising in some areas, such as along the Trent in Nottinghamshire, despite a marked improvement in weather conditions across the country after a month’s worth of rain fell in only a few hours on Friday.

Play Video 1:01 Aerial images show village near Doncaster partially submerged by flood water – video

According to the Met Office, Sheffield had 84mm (3.3 inches) of rain in just over 36 hours, almost the equivalent of the monthly average for Yorkshire.

Derbyshire and South Yorkshire have been worst affected by the floods, which already claimed the life of a woman, who was swept away in Darley Dale early on Friday.

Boris Johnson was criticised for declaring the floods “not like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency” in comments made during a visit to Matlock in Derbyshire.

The Met Office has forecast a largely dry and sunny Sunday across the UK, except for some rain on the east coasts of England and Scotland, but more rain is expected overnight and blustery showers will reach the west by Monday morning.

Sophie Yeomans, a Met Office meteorologist, said a weather system moving across Europe would cause a fair amount of rainfall across England and Wales throughout the week. “It is going to be an unsettled week in terms of rain,” she said.

The Environment Agency said water levels on the Don had peaked in most places and were receding, but said “rivers may respond quickly” to more wet weather. It also asked people to sign up to flood warnings.

Northern Rail said flooding disruption may continue until Tuesday morning in some areas of South Yorkshire, and that a significant amount of work was required before the tracks would be clear for trains. Tracks in several locations were still under water, with debris and damage surfacing as the flood waters drained away, the company said.

Customers were told not to travel on the Doncaster to Scunthorpe, Sheffield to Goole or Sheffield to Doncaster route, with no estimate as to when they would reopen. The Sheffield to Leeds line via Moorthorpe will not call at Rotherham until further notice.