Flooding strikes again in sodden Yorkshire

Dozens of flood warnings and alerts were still in place last night across West and South Yorkshire as downpours continued to lash down on ground already saturated after three months of record-breaking rainfall.

Six people, four of them disabled, had to be rescued from a caravan park near Filey by a lifeboat crew yesterday after the deluge left the site 2ft underwater.

The RNLI was called to Cayton Bay after three men, one of whom was 60 and could not walk, and a woman said to have learning difficulties, became trapped with their two female carers in a static caravan by the rising water.

Filey Lifeboat Coxswain Barry Robson said the four were given a check-up by a paramedic but were unharmed.

“They were just nervous about being carried out and just wanted to get back in their minibus and go home,” he said.

Further up the coast at Sandsend a man was nearly buried alive by a landslip on the beach but managed to claw his way out unhurt.

The Prince of Wales’s visit to Hebden Bridge yesterday to offer help to businesses hit by severe flooding two weeks ago was delayed by the new storms.

Charles was in town in his role as president of Business in the Community to offer support through the charity’s Business Emergency Recovery Group.

Thousands of well-wishers braved the rain to give him a warm, if very wet, welcome as he met staff and pupils at Central Street Infant and Nursery School, called into flood-damaged shops and chatted to emergency service workers about their relief efforts.

The Calder Valley town and neighbouring Mytholmroyd and Todmorden were braced for more flood damage last night after up to 40mm of rain fell in the space of just 12 hours.

Many of the region’s roads were submerged yesterday, causing traffic chaos as motorists slowly negotiated the treacherous conditions.

Company director Nick Hall, 51, and his son Phil, 24, had to paddle to safety after their £50,000 Jaguar conked out when a country lane near Stamford Bridge, near York, was transformed into a lake.

The pair were travelling down Buttercrambe Road, near a tributary of the River Derwent, when they found themselves sinking.

Mr Hall, managing director of Tadcaster-based school uniform business Apc Clothing, said: “We thought it was a puddle at first. As we started going through it we realised it was not a flat road and the water was getting deeper and deeper.

“But there was no way out by that time. When we got out the water was up to our knees. It was unbelievable.”

Rail travellers did not escape the chaos either, with passengers having to be ferried by bus after part of the line flooded at Walsden, near Todmorden.

Trains between Leeds and Huddersfield were also delayed after signals near Batley were hit by lightning.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had been alerted to a number of incidents at properties, including Dewsbury Crematorium, where pumps had to be used to remove water. Flooding was also reported in Normanton as well as Durkar, near Wakefield.

In East Yorkshire, there were reports of flooding in Goole, Swinefleet, Crowle and Keadby with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service responding to 61 calls.

In North Yorkshire, crews were called to 10 flooding incidents in Scarborough, York, Malton, Harrogate and Selby.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it responded to around a dozen flooding calls, pumping water out of several properties and rescuing motorists stranded by floodwater.

The Environment Agency was keeping a close watch on the rivers in Sheffield and Doncaster last night, where water levels were very high, especially near Meadowhall shopping centre.