Floods in Brechin, Scotland. Photograph courtesy of Danielle
Homes have been evacuated in places as far apart as Exeter and Aberdeen, as one severe flood warning remains in Cornwall with 189 flood warnings elsewhere in the country.
After a record breaking dry start to 2012, the country has seen record amounts of rain since the summer, and with that has come floods, and landslips in various parts of the country. Fire trucks have been in use across the UK to pump water out of streets and homes, but the problems with rail and road infrastructure will remain until the floodwaters clear and repair teams can get to work.
Along with the fire and police service, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has been employed to save some people from the rapidly rising floodwaters. In Umberleigh, near Barnstaple in Devon, a woman was rescued by a lifeboat after she was swept away from her car and was spotted by helicopter 50 minutes later clinging onto a tree branch. The lifeboat team were “heroic” in their rescue of the woman as they worked in complete darkness in an environment they had never encountered before. The woman’s husband and son were then rescued from their car by firefighters in drysuits.
