Storm Babet latest: Met Office issues red weather warning, flooding in Ireland, UK braces for heavy wind & rain
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The UK is bracing itself for heavy wind and rain as Storm Babet sweeps in from across the Atlantic. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather alert for parts of the country, warning of a “risk to life”.
Storm Babet, a complex area of low pressure which developed to the west of the Iberian Peninsula, was named by the Met Office on Monday morning. The second named storm of the season will last until Saturday, the forecaster said, and is expected to cause flooding, power cuts and travel disruption.
National World will be updating this live blog with the latest news as the extreme weather conditions continue to batter the nation.
Storm Babet latest as extreme weather conditions continue to batter the UK
Storm Babet: Woman dies as body pulled from river in Angus, Police Scotland confirms
A woman has died after her body was pulled from a river in Angus where a red weather alert is currently in place. Police Scotland said the body was recovered around 4pm following a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday October 19, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk. Around 4pm, the body of a 57-year-old woman was recovered from the river.
“There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Storm Babet, a complex area of low pressure which developed to the west of the Iberian Peninsula, was named by the Met Office on Monday morning. The Met Office subsequently issued a rare red weather alert for parts of the country, warning of a “risk to life”.
The storm could bring up to 220mm of rain in some areas of eastern Scotland, an amount close to the highest ever 24-hour total for a “rainfall day”, Met Office figures show.
Some 238mm of rain was measured at Sloy Main Adit in Argyll & Bute between 9am on January 17 1974 and 9am the following day.
The storm is expected to rage overnight and into the weekend, with amber warnings for wind and rain issued for parts of northern England, the Midlands and northern Wales from noon on Friday to 6am on Saturday.
Babet hits the north
Sheffield is now seeing flooding - news from our sister title The Star
Scotland battens down
Edinburgh Castle is closed - this from our sister title The Edinburgh News
Authorities search for man trapped in floodwater in Aberdeenshire
A search is underway for a man who is feared trapped in a vehicle in floodwater in Aberdeenshire.
Authorities were made aware of the report at around 3am last night in the village of Marykirk. A coastguard helicopter and coastal rescue teams have been assisting in the search so far.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3am on Friday October 20 2023, police received a report of a man within a vehicle trapped in floodwater near Marykirk.
“Multi-agency searches are ongoing and the public are asked to avoid the area for their safety.”
Red weather warning extended into the weekend
The Met Office has extended its red weather warning for north-east Scotland into the weekend.
The original red weather warning was expected to expire early Saturday morning. However, a new 24-hour red warning has now been put in place from midnight Saturday until midnight on Sunday.
It covers areas such as Brechin, Montrose and Laurencekirk.
Read the latest Met Office advice here.
BREAKING: Second death confirmed as driver killed by falling tree
A second person has died in north-east Scotland after a tree fell onto a van in the Angus area, Police Scotland has confirmed.
The driver, 56, was hit by the tree in Forar on the B0127 at Whigstreet. Emergency service arrived at the scene just after 5.05pm yesterday evening.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It comes after the death of a 57-year-old woman was confirmed. The woman's body was recovered from a river in Angus as the region continues to be battered by Storm Babet's heavy rain and strong winds.
MAP: where are the Met Office weather warnings in place?
As stated earlier, the Met Office has extended a red weather warning for rain in the north-east of Scotland as the region continues to be battered by Babet.
The red weather warning is not the only one in place, with areas such as the Midlands also being hit with heavy rain and strong winds.
Find out below which warnings are in place and where through to Saturday evening.
Plane skids off runway at Leeds Bradford Airport
There were dramatic scenes at Leeds Bradford Airport earlier as a plane skidded off the runway while attempting to land in the wild conditions of Storm Babet.
According to our sister title, Yorkshire Evening Post, Fiona Marr, who went to the airport to watch some of the planes land with her nine-year-old son, said that the plane was visibly affected by the winds and “landed almost sideways” at “about 1.40pm”.
Mr Marr said that an alarm went off in the airport and fire crews and what appeared to be ambulances went to the incident. She added that there was no smoke coming from the crash but that other flights that were set to take off had to be halted.
A spokesperson for TUI said: "We are aware of an incident at Leeds Bradford Airport this afternoon, in which upon landing flight TOM3551 slightly veered off while turning into the taxiway. There are no reported injuries, and our ground team are on hand to support passengers as they disembark
Third Storm Babet death confirmed as man dies in Shropshire floods
A third person has died during Storm Babet, as West Murica police confirmed that a man was pulled from floodwater in Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire earlier today.
The man, in his 60s, was swpet into floodwater after a brook breached a road in the town.
It is the third confirmed death from the conditions caused by Storm Babet. A woman died in the Angus region in Scotland on Thursday, while a man was killed in the area after a tree fell on his van.