Severe flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire has left thousands of residents without power and major disruption to road and rail traffic
A Tesco Superstore and a Sainsbury’s in central Carlisle are under water following severe flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire that has left around 10,000 homes without electricity.
Storm Desmond saw around 340mm of rain fall in 24 hours, according to provisional figures reported by BBC News, which would be a new British record if verified.
Helicopter footage tweeted by Tesco shows the retailer’s store at Warwick Road, Carlisle, surrounded by deep water, while another image posted by a member of the public shows similar flooding at the Sainsbury’s.
Road and rail services have been severely disrupted with no trains running between Carlisle and Scotland today (7 December) due to flooding and a landslip.
Livestock has been left stranded, while the B5295 bridge at Braithwaite and Pooley Bridge in the Eden District have been washed away.
Fruit and veg wholesaler A Stephenson, based in Appleby-in-Westmorland, which has been affected by the floods, tweeted that its warehouse is open as usual, although its retail store is without power.
John Leyland, deputy director of operations at the Environment Agency told the BBC that the amount of rainfall was “beyond the forecasts” and the model used by the EA to trigger flood warnings does not account for persistent heavy rain.
Environment minister Liz Truss this morning chaired an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee. In a statement she said flood defences performed as they were designed to, but exceptional rainfall had led to defences being breached.
“Storm Desmond has largely passed, but rivers remain swollen and the ground is saturated by the significant volumes of rain we have seen in recent weeks,” she said.
“In particular, we are carefully monitoring the situation in Carlisle and York where river levels have not yet reached their peak.”