'Record' level seen on Dales river after 'biblical' rainfall

Five cars and a truck got stuck on the A684 at Hawes in Wensleydale following heavy rain at the weekend.

They were rescued by the fire crews using water rescue equipment, including boats.

Neil McNair and his wife Jane, who run Low Mill in Bainbridge in Wensleydale - a converted 18th-century watermill - said they had seen "biblical" rain with the River Bain - a tributary of the River Ure - reaching record levels.

Mr McNair said it had been the highest they'd seen in the 10 years they'd been there, giving them a "slightly damp" basement.

He said: "I think it as high as the Bain has been and looking at the Ure at midnight it got to over 4m, higher than the highest level which was in February.

"It came up astonishingly quickly, the rain was just so intense. The pump can usually cope but it just came up so quickly the pump wasn't man enough to cope with it."

The flood levels dropped rapidly on Monday morning, Mr McNair said. "From 8am it has gone down a couple of feet," he said.

People are being warned that flooding is expected from four rivers in North Yorkshire following heavy overnight rain.

There are 11 flood warnings in place for four rivers in North Yorkshire, the rivers Esk, Nidd, Ure and Wharfe.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said they had worked throughout Sunday night to respond to "multiple" reports of flooding, using crews from Hawes, Reeth, Leyburn, Colburn, Bentham, Settle, Skipton, Lofthouse, Grassington and Richmond.