A 4×4 entered the deep waters of the River Esk on the North York Moors as severe flooding and strong winds lashed parts of the UK.
Three men have died after their 4×4 became submerged in the River Esk in the North York Moors amid ferocious weather and severe flooding across parts of the UK on Thursday.
Emergency services, including air support, were called shortly before noon to reports of the men becoming trapped in deep water. Police said the vehicle was recovered at about 3pm.
Residents of parts of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, had to pick up the pieces after a “localised tornado” triggered by a supercell storm swept through around a hundred properties. Thousands of houses were knocked out of power and a first incident was reported.
Storm Gerrit, the most recent named typhoon to hit the UK, also brought heavy snow, strong winds and rain to parts of Scotland, where downed trees and other debris brought down power lines.
The Met Office said on Thursday afternoon that the worst weather had passed and there would be gusts and showers overnight and into Friday.
A new wave of strong winds and an era of heavy rain are expected on Saturday before windy and rainy situations on Sunday, New Year’s Eve.
By Thursday evening, the number of flood warnings forecast for England had risen to 29, concentrated in Cumbria, the Midlands and East and North Yorkshire.
In England, in the north and west, an additional 123 flood warnings remained in force, where flooding is possible. There have been 8 flood warnings and 15 flood warnings in Scotland, and one flood warning and 17 warnings in Wales.
A number of rail operators, including ScotRail, LNER and Avanti West Coast, have suspended some facilities and pleaded with users not to use certain routes.
The tornado is believed to have caused significant damage to homes in Stalybridge, Tameside.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they obtained reports of the incident at around 11:45pm. and declared a major incident due to the severity of the damage caused and the potential threat to public safety.
The Liberal Democrats have called on Rishi Sunak to call a Cobra assembly after the damage in the Greater Manchester city. No injuries were reported, but many others had to leave their homes.
Residents reported hearing a hurricane-like noise for 15 to 30 seconds as trees were uprooted and roofs ripped off. Richard Harrison, whose car window shattered in flying debris, told the Manchester Evening News: “It was fortunate that no one died. “
Matthew Marsland, who lives across the street from the badly injured homes, said he had no idea how bad the damage was in the first place.
He told the newspaper: “I saw a piece of tree next to my neighbour’s car, then I looked further along the street and saw a gutter in the middle of the street so I thought I’d go and pick that up, and then I saw my neighbour had had half his house torn off.”
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Tameside council said approximately 100 properties had been evacuated after the tornado hit areas of Carrbrook and Millbrook.
GMP Superintendent Mark Dexter said: “This incident has affected many other people in the Stalybridge area, with many citizens displaced from their homes overnight.
“I would like to urge the public to avoid the domain where imaginable and to take extra care when traveling by vehicle on roads in and around Stalybridge, due to debris on the road. ”
A second supercell thunderstorm was confirmed to have hit Morecambe Bay in Lancashire hours later. The Met Office said the storm had a “strong rotating updraft”, suggesting that “a tornado at the surface was likely”.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said they had faced winds of 80mph in some coastal spaces as they worked to reconnect customers.
Power had been restored to more than 40,000 homes as of Thursday evening, leaving only about 3,000 homes without power, the company said. About 1,500 homes are expected to be without power through Friday, mostly in the northeast and Shetland Islands.
An SSEN spokesperson said: “The widespread extent of the damage, the ongoing adverse weather conditions, and the challenges accessing faults due to fallen trees, flooding and road closures, together mean that full network restoration will take time. Some customers in rural areas may be off supply for up to 48 hours.”
Storm Gerrit also brought heavy rain, with the Great Langdale Valley in the Lake District recording 80mm, almost part of the same monthly rainfall of 178mm in December, the Met Office said.
The fastest wind gusts recorded were 86mph at Inverbervie on Scotland’s northeast coast, 84mph at Fair Isle and 83mph at Capel Curig in north Wales, the meteorologist said.
The Tornado and Typhoon Studies organisation said a detailed investigation of the site would need to be carried out before it could verify the damage at Tameside caused by a rare British tornado.