Northern Ireland and Scotland are worst hit, with ferries cancelled, planes grounded and power cuts affecting thousands of homes

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Thousands of homes are without power and major emergency schemes are being activated as Storm Frank began lashing the west coast of Britain.

The worst of the effects so far have been felt in Northern Ireland and Scotland, where the storm hit on Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning, with power cuts affecting thousands of homes, ferries cancelled and planes grounded.

Residents across flood-ravaged northern England were braced for fresh misery after the Environment Agency issued 45 flood warnings across the region, where four severe flood warnings – meaning the ground is under water – are already in place.

Met Office severe weather warnings for wind and rain are in place across the whole of Northern Ireland, most of Scotland and Wales and much of the west coast of England for Wednesday, with the already sodden north-west of England being told to be prepared for heavy rain.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A RAF Chinook helicopter helps repair a damaged riverbank in the flood-hit Lancashire village of Croston. Photograph: Mark Nesbit/MoD/Crown Copyright/PA

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued 50 flood warnings and 14 flood alerts for Angus, Dundee, Tayside and Dumfries. In the Scottish Borders, the council held a series of emergency planning meetings, making particular provision for the Peebles and Upper Tweed areas.

The Dumfries and Galloway major emergency scheme was activated at 6am on Wednesday, with reports of flooding near Castle Douglas as well as concerns that the river Nith may overtop its banks.

Storm Frank: further floods expected as gales and rain batter British Isles – live Read more

An extra 10,000 sandbags were filled to combat what is expected to be widespread and significant flooding, particularly in Dumfries and Galloway and western parts of the Borders.

Scottish Southern Electricity has confirmed that 5,500 homes are without power across the north-east, Argyll and the Inner Hebrides, with engineers hampered overnight by winds of up to 90mph.

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said late on Tuesday night it had experienced faults that caused more than 2,000 homes in Enniskillen to lose power, while there were also outages in Coleraine.

Passengers on nine flights into Belfast international airport were temporarily held on planes as high winds of up to 55 knots, about 63mph, prevented ground crews putting access steps in place.

Two other inbound flights from Luton and Tenerife had to be diverted to Dublin, the airport said.

A Belfast international airport spokesman added: “The high wind warning lasts until the early hours of Wednesday morning. Some airlines have cancelled flights, so we would ask passengers to please contact their airline for updates.”

In northern England, where many people are still clearing up from the Boxing Day floods, the Environment Agency said there was potential for further significant flooding, particularly in Cumbria, which has already been badly affected by storms.

River levels remained at record highs and the ground saturated, though flood water was largely receding on Tuesday across the north of England, where more than 6,700 homes flooded over the past week. The government released a further £50m to councils to help households and businesses deal with the aftermath of the floods.

David Wiseman, a member of the rescue NGO Team Rubicon in Tadcaster, said the collapse of the bridge on Tuesday was probably due “to the sheer weight of water pressing against that bridge for so many days, and also the cumulative effect of just tree upon tree, all that debris flowing down that river and just smashing into that bridge over the past few days”.

Meanwhile, in York, police condemned thieves who looted homes submerged in dirty water. North Yorkshire police’s acting superintendent, Mark Grange, said: “It is extremely disappointing to see victims of the floods being targeted in this way. It is impossible to comprehend why anyone would want to bring further suffering to those who are already in a very vulnerable situation.”

One man has been arrested on suspicion of theft in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, on suspicion of theft, following a report from a member of the local community of suspicious activity around flooded properties.

A statement published on Facebook by West Yorkshire police said: “At 7.30am officers were called to a report of a male in a white van stealing white goods from outside a flood-damaged property on Burnley Road in Mytholmroyd.

“Officers quickly attended the area and located the vehicle nearby, a 40-year-old male from the Dewsbury area has been arrested on suspicion of theft and is currently in police custody whist enquiries are made into the matter.”

The Met Office has said it expects rain to clear western and northern areas through Wednesday morning, spreading eastwards then slowly clearing from south-eastern Britain during the evening.

Craig Woolhouse, the director of incident management at the Environment Agency, said: “The weather continues to be hugely challenging, with more rain threatening to cause further flooding in Cumbria on Wednesday and into Thursday. We urge communities in Cumbria to prepare and not to walk or drive through flood water.”