Image source, PA

A family and their dog were rescued from flood waters by the coastguard on Warwick Road in the centre of Carlisle overnight.  

Many residents of Carlisle have woken up to scenes of extreme flooding this morning.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigel Goody, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency,, external says the weather in the border areas is improving. 

"The heavy rain which we've had overnight, over the last 48 hours really, is now dissipating. And the river levels are responding accordingly. 

"However, I would say that the danger is not over yet. River levels continue to be high, and in some areas unprecedentedly so. 

"So the public should be vigilant and should certainly not approach rivers in these conditions."

This is the view right now in the centre of Carlisle, showing some of the businesses and properties to have been flooded by Storm Desmond.

About 55,000 homes in Lancaster are without power this morning after an electricity substation was flooded in last night's heavy rain. 

According to the BBC's Emma Stanley, Electricity North West said flood defences upgraded five years ago to cope with a "one-in-a-hundred years flood" were breached late last night.

BBC Cumbria reporter Steven Bell says the Army is out warning and informing residents in Carlisle.

This is the current scene at West Walls, looking down to the viaduct car park.

BBC News Channel

Pete Fox, from the Environment Agency in England, has been giving an update on where its priorities lie for the day.

"The focus for today is Carlisle and I would ask people to be very vigilant there, where we expect flood waters to peak at around nine o'clock.

"And we've had reports of about 180, 200 properties flooded so far from Storm Desmond. We expect that number to rise and we need people to take special care in Carlisle. 

"Go the Environment Agency website,, external heed the advice of the emergency services."

The official word from the Scottish Borders Council is that 600 people were evacuated from homes in Hawick last night.  

Cumbria Police are urging people, external in certain areas to self-evacuate to family and friends this morning, or attend one of the four reception centres in Carlisle for advice and shelter.  

The areas marked out as most in danger of flooding are around the:

• Rivers Caldew and Eden at Carlisle, Willowholme, Caldewgate and Shaddongate (North of Caldew Bridge, A595)
• River Eden at Carlisle Rickerby Village  
• Rivers Eden and Petteril at Carlisle City Centre, Botcherby and Warwick Road areas

The Enviroment Agency says flood levels are expected to reach their peak at noon and warns that water may overtop the flood defences.

Some localised flooding has already taken place in certain areas of Carlisle, including Denton Holme and the Racecourse.

In 2010, a £38m flood defence scheme for Carlisle was completed, intended to protect about 3,000 homes and businesses around the city.

Three people died there in January 2005 when 175mm of rain fell in just 36 hours, causing £250m of damage.

This weekend's flooding in Cumbria is the latest in a series of incidents in the county. 

The flooding in 2009 was particularly bad - policeman Bill Barker was swept to his death in floods in Workington that year.

Record rainfalls were recorded in the county that year, as the rivers, streams and becks spilled into homes and businesses.

Emergency relief centres catered for hundreds of displaced people.

Cockermouth and Keswick were worst affected, but many other communities across Cumbria felt the impact of the deluge.

The RNLI has revealed this morning that the cross-Tyne Shields ferry, Spirit of the Tyne, had to be rescued last night.

This was after the ferry’s engine failed on its final crossing of the night, from North to South Shields. It Sounds like the stormy weather made the rescue operation particularly tricky.  

Unfortunately, if you were hoping to avoid the trouble on the roads by travelling on the trains, they're also badly disrupted. In fact, they're not running at all between England and Scotland via Preston or Newcastle.

First TransPennine Express is advising passengers not to travel today. 

And Northern Rail is telling people to avoid travel in the North West of England today.  

You can keep across what's happening with the trains in the affected parts of the country here., external

With all the rain around, there's naturally been a lot of travel disruption and road closures. Highways England, external has full updates on that, but here are some of the main problems due to flooding.

The A66 is closed in both directions between the junctions with the A5086 and the A591 Keswick. The road is expected to re-open from 08:00 GMT.

The A590 eastbound and westbound is closed between the junctions with the A6 and the A59 - it's expected to re-open from 12:00 GMT.  

And finally, the M6 southbound and northbound exit slips at junction J34 are closed. They're expected to re-open from 08:00 GMT.