Storm Babet has hit northern Europe since Friday, causing flooding and property damage.
Storm Babet continued to cause flooding and property damage across the UK on Saturday, particularly affecting rail services, after hitting regions in Denmark, Norway and Germany on Friday night.
It began hitting Scotland on Friday, causing the deaths of three people, including two in the north-east of the country, where the red alert was lifted at the end of the day. “Severe flooding is still occurring in parts of Scotland and some rivers remain at dangerous levels,” the Scottish government said in a statement, describing the rainfall levels as “extraordinary”. “Weather conditions are improving but remain extremely difficult, particularly in the worst affected areas of Tayside,” in the east of the country, said Stuart Houston, Scotland’s deputy chief constable.
300 flood warnings in England
Since Thursday, the Environment Agency has issued more than 300 flood warnings across England, most of them in Yorkshire (north) and the Midlands (central). Three warnings of “severe flooding” “posing a significant risk to the lives” of local residents have been issued, particularly on the banks of the River Derwent in central Derby, it said on its website.
According to one of its officials, Katharine Smith, “some major rivers, particularly the Severn, the Ouse and the Trent, are likely to continue to flood into Tuesday” in the north and central areas.
In an interview with BBC One, Labor MP Toby Perkins said around 400 homes in his Chesterfield constituency in central England had been flooded and many people now had “no idea where to live”.
2.30 meters
In London, King’s Cross station had to close its doors for a few hours on Saturday afternoon to limit the influx of travelers who gathered in the hall and on the platforms due to the cancellations or delays of numerous trains.
As reported from London in Scotland, there continues to be “significant disruption”.
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The storm also hit the coast of northern Germany on Friday evening, raging throughout the night and causing the death of a woman who was killed in her car by a falling tree, fire officials said. Strong winds and rain caused water levels to rise, leading to flooding and the evacuation of around 2,000 people, according to the Schleswig-Holstein emergency service.
The highest water levels were measured on Friday around midnight: in Flensburg (North) it reached almost 2.30 meters above normal – a value that has not been seen for almost 120 years. The situation improved on Saturday.
A cyclist passes a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany, October 20, 2023. AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP A cyclist passes a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany, October 20, 2023. AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP
In Denmark, Storm Babet triggered a sharp rise in water levels in cities in the south of the country, flooding the ground floors of houses without power for several hours.
A photo shows a flooded street around the port of Soenderborg in southern Jutland on October 20, 2023, after a storm hit the area. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN / AFP
According to the DMI weather service, water levels rose more than two meters above normal in cities such as Aabenraa, Haderslev, Sønderborg, Hesnæs, Fynshav, Fåborg and Assensson, levels that are normally only reached once every 100 years.
“We need to evacuate large amounts of water from cities, especially in southern Jutland,” said Martin Vendelbo from the Danish civil protection agency Ritzau. In the fishing port of Rødvig (Zealand province), several fishing boats were stranded or about to sink, according to photos from the Danish media.