Torrential rain leads to chaos as floods hit homes across Yorkshire

Neighbourhoods in South and West Yorkshire were badly hit, with fire crews in South Yorkshire receiving 75 calls for help between 8.30pm and 11pm on Sunday night.

Brigade chiefs said “numerous calls” came from the Athersley North and Athersley South areas from around 8.30 to 9.30pm, while areas around Hillsborough in Sheffield were calling for help from around 9.30pm to 11pm.

A spokesman said: “Firefighters from Barnsley attended the Beeston Square area of Athersley North and pumped out around 12 flooded houses.

“Meanwhile, another crew spent three hours working with Sheffield Council to pump flood water away from the city’s Penistone Road and into the River Don.

“And firefighters from Sheffield attended Middlewood Drive East, where flood water was heading towards an electrical sub-station. They helped to divert the running water into the drainage system.”

According to emergency services in West Yorkshire torrential rain led to homes being flooded and the emergency closure of the M1.

The motorway was closed between junctions 48 and 45 southbound and between junctions 43 and 46 northbound after flooding left debris on the carriageways.

Police said the closure followed several collisions. The road was reopened at 3am yesterday.

Householders in east Leeds were yesterday contacting their insurers after rising flood water entered their homes.

Some residents had little time to rescue any possessions because the rising flood water entered their homes very quickly.

Steve Reid, who lives on Neville Grove at Swillington, managed to rescue cars on his drive but was unable to save much more.

A number of neighbours also suffered flooding and spent yesterday cleaning up and trying to salvage what they could.

Around 10 homes were affected in Neville Grove. Flooding also affected Garforth.

In North Yorkshire fire engines pumped water out of dozens of homes struck by flash flooding in yesterday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said two engines attended incidents in the town of Boroughbridge, while three more dealt with flooding in 15 homes in the Badger Hill district of York.

Fire investigators said heavy rain was also to blame for an electrical cabling fault which sent flames shooting out of a York pavement and left hundreds of properties without power.

A fire spokesman said yesterday that the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday in Fishergate and cut power to more than 200 homes, was started by a fault in a junction box, probably caused by short-circuiting due to the torrential rain.

Large parts of England and Wales remained on flood alert last night as forecasters warned that there will be no respite over coming days from the rain.

Gemma Plumb, of MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said there will be light rain through central southern parts of England, the Midlands and eastern parts of England yesterday with some heavy showers across the rest of the UK.

On Wednesday there will be further showers, the heaviest of which will be across Wales and south west England.

Miss Plumb warned there would be “no respite” from the wet weather over coming days.

She added: “There will be some dry intervals at times, but at the moment it looks as though it is going to remain unsettled for a good few days now.

Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh yesterday paid tribute to the work of emergency crews across the country, but said the floods came as warning to Government.

She added: “People in flood-hit areas are finding it harder to get insurance and their premiums and excesses are going up.

“The Tory-led Government has cut investment in flood defences by 27 per cent and are failing to ensure flood insurance remains available to all.

“There is a crisis looming on flood insurance that will leave many homes uninsurable, unmortgageable and unsellable.”