Storm Bert wind warnings: Forecasters warn robust gusts, heavy rain and thawing snow may trigger MORE chaos as map exhibits over 200 flood alerts in place and contemporary Met Office climate warnings issued

Heavy rain, high-speed winds and thawing snow is set to cause more flooding chaos today as Storm Bert continues to leave a trail of carnage in its wake this weekend.

The killer storm has left the country on high alert, with more than 200 flood warnings in place for England, Wales and Scotland overnight on Saturday and fresh Met Office predictions for torrential rain and strong gusts are also in place for most of today. 

It comes after a day of weather chaos on Saturday saw thousands of homes left without power and three motorists killed in fatal traffic incidents. 

Forecasters say the milder temperatures are causing the snow which covered the north of England and much of Scotland to melt, whilst the high-speed gales are exacerbating the impact of the hefty showers battering the country. 

Residents and business owners in some areas have been told to ‘act now’ after their communities were placed under red flood warnings – meaning extreme weather is expected and damage is likely.

The Met Office say Storm Bert is likely to cause ‘dangerous coastal conditions’ and disruption across southern England and parts of Wales until 9pm on Sunday with a yellow wind warning in place.

Some communities may be cut off by flooded roads, particularly in the west of England.

Persistent downpours are also set to hit the south-west of England into Sunday, with a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the Met Office said.

Travel disruption continues into Sunday and ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday, including its Newhaven to Dieppe sailings.

It comes after as much as 79.8mm of rain fell in Capel Curig, in Snowdonia, on Saturday while in Kinbrace, in the Highlands, it reached lows of -12.4C.

Tens of thousands of homes have been without power, with 4,000 homes affected in the Midlands, south-west England and South Wales and 27,000 customers affected in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Eight yellow weather warnings have been put in place by the Met Office for Sunday, up from six on Saturday.

A series of emergencies were caused by Storm Bert on Saturday. 

Police were reportedly searching for a dogwalker they feared could have been swept away by floodwaters in North Wales.

The man went missing on Saturday around the river Conwy in the village of Trefriw. Fields around the river often flood in heavy rain, sparking fears he may have been swept up in the swollen waters.

The search was launched shortly after 4pm when the alarm was raised by a family member. The fire service rushed water rescue specialist teams to the scene, where they were joined by police, the ambulance service and a Coastguard helicopter, the Daily Post reported.

The dog has been safely located, but the man remains missing despite hours of searching. Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team told the outlet that the rain, melting ice and snow had combined with a high tide to make raise water levels.

Maps showing the route of the helicopter, which was fitted with thermal imaging cameras, can see it tracking the river close to the Welsh town. 

A spokesperson for the coastguard said: ‘HM Coastguard was tasked to assist North Wales Police with a search for a missing runner at Llanrwst on 23 November at around 6.15pm. 

‘The Coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon was sent alongside Ogwen Mountain Rescue Team. The helicopter concluded the search and has now been stood down.’ 

Eight yellow weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office, covering the entirety of Wales, the south west of England, the south coast and much of the north west of England and Scotland.

Milder temperatures are causing the snow which covered the north of England and much of Scotland to melt. 

Dozens of red flood warnings have been issued in England, meaning flooding is expected and residents and business owners should ‘act now’, according to the Environment Agency (EA). 

Airports across the UK have shut and football matches have been cancelled following 16-inch snowfall. 

And in the Yorkshire town of Todmorden, flood sirens released a terrifying wail as they echoed up the Calder Valley. 

Winds measuring 70mph are battering coastal areas and melting snow and heavy rain are causing flooding. Gusts of up to 105mph were recorded at Cairngorm Summit in Moray at 10am, Met Office data showed, while temperatures plummeted to -11C in the Highlands.

This includes fears of power cuts, travel cancellations, damage to buildings and a danger to life both from large waves and flying debris. 

In a post on X on Saturday evening, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘My thoughts are with all those affected by Storm Bert.

‘For those who have lost power, my department will be keeping in close touch with the energy companies as they seek to ensure it is restored as swiftly as possible and help those affected.’

A rain warning is also in place for the same region, predicting possibilities of potentially-fatal fast flowing and deep floodwater.

Yellow warnings for rain have also been instated for the entirety of Wales, all of Northern Ireland, much of the north of England and sections of Scotland.

Earlier, a 34-year-old man in Shipley, West Yorkshire, was killed when his blue Renault Capture smashed into a wall in icy conditions.

Then a man in his 60s died when a tree fell onto his black Mercedes E350. He was confirmed deceased at the scene. 

Northamptonshire Police have also reported that a man died in a two-car collision on the A45 near Flore at around 8.20am this morning.

Five adults and five children had to be rescued from a house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen in north Wales, following a landslide.

A North Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said they are all being assessed by ambulance services away from the scene ‘somewhere warm’.

A further landslide has been reported in the area but it is understood no one has been affected.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has issued a series of flood warnings and alerts across the country, as bridges are shut and roads closed. 

Over the weekend, Wales is expected to face up to 75mm of rain widely, with 150mm possible in some areas.

The strongest gust recorded so far by the Met Office is 82mph at Capel Curig in Conwy, north Wales, with winds of 70mph expected around coastal areas.

The Met Office has warned heavy rain is likely to cause travel disruption and flooding, particularly across south Wales.

NRW has issued flood warnings – where flooding is expected, and immediate action is required – on eight stretches of river.

It has also issued alerts – where flooding is possible – for more than 40 areas across Wales.

The storm has been described as a multi-hazard event with snow being followed by warm air moving northwards – bringing high winds.

Ross Easton, of Energy Networks Association (ENA) – which represents the UK’s power network operators, said: ‘Forecasters are describing this as a ‘multi-hazard event’ with the worst of the weather yet to arrive, and so our members have extra engineers and contact centre teams available, and control rooms are monitoring the storm closely as it develops.’

Savage winds across the UK have seen trees dangerously falling across roads. One man James Green narrowly escaped death when a tree fell on his car in Worthing. 

The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire was closed because of strong winds, and the A66 in County Durham was closed both ways between the A67 and A645 due to snow.

Traffic has been at a standstill on the M80 near Castlecary, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

There was also chaos at Newcastle airport as some incoming flights were diverted to Belfast and Edinburgh while the airport’s snow team tried to minimise disruption.

Holidaymakers shared images showing snow-covered runways at both Newcastle and Yorkshire airport, with some even claiming there are ‘seven hours plus delays’. 

Six weather warnings remain in place. Further south, heavy showers are hitting England. 

The Met Office forecasts heavy rain developing overnight and into Sunday for south-west and southern England, stretching from Oxford to Truro.

The yellow warning is in place from 6am Saturday until 11.45pm on Sunday and up to 70mm of rain could fall during this time.

There is a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see up to six inches of rainfall, the national weather service said.

A wind warning covers coastal areas of southern England and Wales from 9am on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday.

Avanti West Coast cancelled its service between Edinburgh and Carlisle all day on Saturday with the next direct service from Carlisle not scheduled to run until Sunday afternoon.

A number of matches in the EFL have also been called off due to heavy snow and rain battering the pitches, including Bradford against Accrington Stanley and Fleetwood against MK Dons.

The Championship football match between Blackburn Rovers at Portsmouth at Ewood Park, Lancashire, was postponed due to torrential rain flooding the pitch. 

Many fans had already begun their journeys up and down the country to see their teams play on Saturday. 

National Highways issued a ‘severe weather alert’ for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.

An amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and potentially as much as 20-40cm (16 inches) on hills above 400 metres. 

The weather warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire.

It comes after a weather map revealed where Storm Bert is set to batter the UK this weekend.

Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.

Ferry operator CalMac – which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.

P&O Ferries also said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west on Saturday.

A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the north east of England.

Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the storm’s arrival was following a ‘relatively quiet’ night on Friday with temperatures at around minus 4C across parts of Scotland and minus 1C in eastern England.

‘We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning,’ Mr McGivern said.

‘This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.

‘You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.

‘So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.’

He said temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a ‘rapid thaw’ by the afternoon.

‘The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the South West, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain,’ the meteorologist said.

Over the weekend, Wales and the South West are at risk of seeing 75mm of rain widely, and potentially more than 100mm over the higher parts of South Wales and Dartmoor.

Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.

Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am and Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday. 

Rain warnings cover much of Wales from 6am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England from 6am on Saturday until 11.45pm.

A wind warning also covers coastal areas of southern England from 3pm until 9pm on Saturday.

Rail companies issued announcements of service changes ahead of the weekend.

In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.

ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries. 

South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.

SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.

In the capital, Shepherds Bush tube station was closed due to flooding. An emergency response unit was dispatched by TfL to reopen it.

TransPennine Express ‘strongly’ urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

UK airports are not anticipating disruption.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said: ‘Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time… we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in.’

Manchester Airport said ‘we’re expecting bad weather but aren’t anticipating any disruption’ while Newcastle Airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams ‘fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate’.

Clean-up operations are now under way after Storm Bert swept across Ireland, causing flooding and thousands of power outages.  

Power cuts affected 60,000 customers at the height of the outage; ESB teams are still working to restore supplies to the thousands still left without electricity. 

Status red rain warnings were in place for Cork and Galway until 10am on Saturday, with an orange alert for rain in place for counties Waterford, Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim. 

Bridge Street in Killybegs, Co Donegal, is among the areas worst-hit by the storm – with homes, businesses and charities along the street affected by dramatic flooding overnight.

There was also bad flooding in west Limerick, where the Feale River burst its banks, and on roads in Galway and Cork.

Rebecca Mullen, of The Flour House bakery in Riverstick, Co Cork, said that Storm Babet flooded the bakery last October, and the bakery had flooded again after Storm Bert.

They had received grants from the Red Cross to help them through the last flood where a lot of damage was done.

In Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure said its roads and rivers teams responded to more than 500 incidents since the yellow alert for rain and snow was issued overnight.

It said that roads across counties Tyrone, Down and Antrim were blocked by trees and flood waters, and properties were flooded in Dundonald, Kilcoo, Coalisland and Ballinamallard as well a Royal Mail property in Mallusk.

‘The Emergency Flooding Payment Scheme has been activated by the Department for Communities,’ it said.

‘The weather warning has now passed and although most rivers have now peaked, staff continue to liaise with multi-agency partners and to monitor water levels and remove debris from watercourses to help floodwaters to get away.

‘Flooding was prevented in many areas due to the proactive screen maintenance work being undertaken by staff who continue to monitor watercourses.

‘Please report any incidents of flooding to the Flooding Incident Line 0300 2000 100.’