Storm Babet flooding and rain hits UK for third day

1. Storm Babet continues to batter parts of the UK, with high winds, torrential rain and severe flooding
2. Three people have died and a man remains missing in Aberdeenshire
3. The victims are a man in his 60s, caught in flood water in Shropshire; a 56-year-old driver, whose van was hit by a falling tree in Angus; and a woman, 57, swept into a river in Angus
4. Rail firm LNER has said passengers should not travel due to widespread flooding; three danger-to-life flood warnings have been issued around the River Derwent in Derbyshire
5. A further red weather warning - meaning there is a risk to life - has been issued for Saturday, covering parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire
6. Amber and yellow warnings are in place in parts of the far north east of Scotland and England, as well as Aberdeenshire, Perthshire and the Scottish Borders
7. The coastguard sent two helicopters to a drilling platform in the North Sea after anchors became detached - all people on board are accounted for

Goodnight - that's all for now

We're calling it a night on the Storm Babet live page for now.

As we leave you amber and yellow warnings remain in place for much of eastern Scotland but the last expires at midnight.

There are no Met Office warnings in place for the UK on Sunday.

Today's page was edited by Paul Hastie, Paul O'Hare and Alex Kleiderman. The writers were Craig Hutchison, Graeme Ogston, Ken Banks, Sean Seddon and Emily McGarvey.

Key points

We'll shortly be drawing today's live page on Storm Babet to a close.

Before we go though, here's a recap on some of the main points so far:

• Three people in the UK are known to have died as the storm swept across the country, causing widespread flooding and high winds.
• A man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing flood water in the town of Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire on Friday.
• Police Scotland previously said a falling tree hit a van near Forfar in Angus on Thursday evening, killing the 56-year-old driver.
• A 57-year-old woman also died on Thursday after being swept into a river in the region.
• A man is still missing in Aberdeenshire, after reports that he had been trapped in a vehicle by flood water near Marykirk at 03:00 on Friday morning
• Helicopters have been sent to assist a drilling platform which has lost anchors in the North Sea

• Flood warnings for England are in place at Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate and Cattle Market, and Racecourse Park at Chaddesden.

• The second named storm of the season also forced a passenger plane to skid off a runway at Leeds Bradford Airport.
• No one was injured and the airport has reopened
• Disruption on the rail network led to the closure of London's King's Cross station on Saturday afternoon
• The red warning across eastern Scotland has been cancelled but we’ll still see heavy rain In the north-east for the next few hours and flooding will remain a concern over the next few days.
• Rain is forecast to ease further overnight and Sunday brings drier and brighter conditions across the UK.

What should you do if your home is flooded?

The Association of British Insurers has issued advice for people going through the "distressing and stressful" experience of seeing their homes flooded. They say:

• Make contact with your insurer as soon as possible (many have 24-hour phone services)
• Arrange temporary repairs to prevent any damage from getting worse, but consult your insurer first
• Keep any receipts from emergency repairs - they will form part of your claim
• Don't throw away damaged items prematurely as your insurer might be able to advise on whether they can be repaired

Grounded birds being cared for amid Storm Babet

Ken Banks

BBC Scotland North East and Northern Isles reporter

New Arc Wildlife Rescue

This long tailed duck was found in Peterhead

Birds found grounded in Aberdeenshire amid Storm Babet are being cared for.

New Arc Wildlife Rescue says those found in the Peterhead area included a long tailed duck waddling around the town centre, a weak and exhausted guillemot on the coastline, and a juvenile Northern gannet which had crash-landed on a street.

"We have attended multiple reports of seabirds found grounded, many of them victims of the storm itself," the charity says.

"It is likely more sea birds will be found inland or grounded over the next few days. Please keep an eye out and call your nearest wildlife rescue for advice."

New Arc Wildlife Rescue

A guillemot was among those found

New Arc Wildlife Rescue

A Northern gannet was also rescued

ScotRail services return quicker than expected

The vast majority of ScotRail services are getting back to normal much more quickly than expected following the severe disruption caused by Storm Babet.

Today the train operator is able to run trains on the following routes that were previously closed.

• Glasgow / Edinburgh – Inverness via Perth.
• Glasgow – Perth.
• Perth – Dundee. A very limited service will run from early evening.
• Inverness – Elgin.
• Inverkeithing – Dundee via Kirkcaldy. Services are running hourly from 15.40 today.
• Inverkeithing – Perth via Dunfermline. (There is planned engineering works between Inverkeithing and Edinburgh where a bus replacement will operate.)
• Glasgow – Oban / Fort William / Mallaig.

PA Wire

Routes still closed are between:

• Aberdeen – Elgin.
• Aberdeen – Dundee.
• Far North & Kyle of Lochalsh lines remain closed due to planned engineering works.

ScotRail expects a normal timetable to be in place across the network from tomorrow except there will be no trains from Aberdeen – Dundee and Aberdeen – Elgin.

People 'have no idea' where they'll live after floods

Chesterfield is among the hardest hit places in England by this week's flooding.

Toby Perkins, the Derbyshire town's Labour MP, says 400 houses have been impacted and businesses have been totally inundated by floodwater.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Many of the people who live in this area are private renters, many of them don't have flood insurance because you can't get flood insurance if you're in an area that's prone to flooding.

"So a lot of the people I was speaking to last night have no idea where they're going to be living from now."

Watch: Swimming sheepdog rescues ewes stranded by flood

Storm Babet: Sheep dog swims to rescue stranded ewes

A sheepdog has swum across flooded fields to rescue three stranded ewes.

Farmer Llŷr Jones says Patsy dove into the water after heavy rain from Storm Babet caused flooding at Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr in Conwy county.

"I know she's a good swimmer and I thought I'll let her have a go," Mr Jones says of eight-year-old Patsy, who earned herself an extra biscuit for guiding the sheep to safety.

"She had no fear", adds Mr Jones, who filmed the rescue effort on his phone.

Scottish ministers meet to discuss storm impact

Getty Images

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) met this evening to discuss the impact of Storm Babet.

The meeting was chaired by the Justice Secretary Angela Constance.

The Met Office Red Warning that was in place in parts of Scotland has now been lifted.

Amber and yellow warnings remain in force for the coming hours with some impacts possible.

Parts of the country are still in the midst of dealing with severe flooding and some rivers remain at hazardous levels.

There are still a number of flood alerts and warnings in force so people are asked to remain vigilant.

While the red warning has now passed, rain does continue to fall and I urge people in areas with amber and yellow weather warnings to continue to follow advice from emergency services and local authorities.

Angela ConstanceScottish Justice Secretary

Aberdeen residents advised to leave properties

Some residents in the Aberdeen suburb of Peterculter have now been advised to leave their homes as a precaution in case of flooding.

Properties in Millbank Terrace, Millside Road and the Culter Den area are affected.

Aberdeen City Council say a rest centre is available at Culter Village Hall on North Deeside Road.

Perth leads the rainfall league table

Sarah Keith-Lucas

Broadcast Meteorologist, BBC Weather

The red warning across eastern Scotland has been cancelled but we’ll still see heavy rain In the north-east for the next few hours and flooding will remain a concern over the next few days.

Rain is forecast to ease further overnight and Sunday brings drier and brighter conditions across the UK.

Here are some of the wettest places we’ve seen since Storm Babet swept in on Wednesday.

Average rainfall for eastern Scotland for the whole of October is around 130mm.

BBC

Storm Babet: The headlines

If you're just joining us the second red "danger to life" weather alert in a week has expired in eastern parts of Scotland.

Forecasters said another 70-100mm (4ins) of rain could fall on Saturday in parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire already hit by severe flooding.

Torrential rain and high winds caused by Storm Babet have continued to batter the UK.

Here's a reminder of what's happened so far:

• Three people in the UK are known to have died as the storm swept across the country, causing widespread flooding and high winds.
• A man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing flood water in the town of Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire on Friday.
• Police Scotland previously said a falling tree hit a van near Forfar in Angus on Thursday evening, killing the 56-year-old driver.
• A 57-year-old woman also died on Thursday after being swept into a river in the region.
• A man is still missing in Aberdeenshire, after reports that he had been trapped in a vehicle by flood water near Marykirk at 03:00 on Friday morning
• Helicopters have been sent to assist a drilling platform which has lost anchors in the North Sea

• Flood warnings for England are in place at Derby City Water Treatment Works, Little Chester, Eastgate and Cattle Market, and Racecourse Park at Chaddesden.

• The second named storm of the season also forced a passenger plane to skid off a runway at Leeds Bradford Airport

• No one was injured and the airport has reopened
• Disruption on the rail network led to the closure of London's King's Cross station on Saturday afternoon

Community help repair wall at River South Esk

Ben Philip

BBC Scotland

BBC

We reported earlier that a wall attached to the River South Esk flood defences in Brechin was washed away overnight.

Angus Council erected barriers but local firms have provided large sandbags in an attempt to prevent the river breaching again.

The local authority said about 335 homes in the town have been evacuated.

Watch: Rugby club deluged by Storm Babet floodwater

Storm Babet: Derby Rugby Club deluged by floodwater

Drone footage shows the extent of flooding caused by Storm Babet at the grounds of Derby Rugby Club.

The pitch has been flooded and matches have been cancelled this weekend, the club says.

BreakingNorth Sea oil platform loses anchors during storm

Stena

Helicopters have been sent to assist a North Sea drilling platform which lost anchors during Storm Babet.

Stena Drilling says four of the eight anchors detached themselves from Stena Spey due to the "severe weather".

All 89 personnel are accounted for on the rig, which is 146 miles (235km) east of Aberdeen.

A HM Coastguard spokesperson says it had sent two of its helicopters to assist the platform facing strong waves in the North Sea.

Read more here.

Farmers' union: 'There’s a lot of hardship to come'

NFU Scotland

Andrew Connon said there is 'a lot of hardship to come' for farmers

Farmers in flood-affected areas have been hit by "massive damage", according to NFU Scotland vice-president Andrew Connon.

He tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that farmland, produce, and crops have all been affected.

Mr Connon says: "To have two red warnings on consecutive days is hugely alarming.

"This isn’t going to fix itself today or tomorrow, there’s a lot of hardship to come.

"You put a lifetime’s work looking after the land, and protecting the land is one thing.

"But for farmers to walk into the potato stores and there’s four feet of water, that has a massive impact."

Mr Conon adds that new and existing crops are being badly damaged.

He says: "The flood water coming over the river embankments can destroy them, particularly if they are under water for too long.

"But the severity of the water is actually washing some crops away altogether, and anything that is left will be rendered useless."

Flooding near major rivers to continue until Tuesday

Flooding is likely to continue in areas near major rivers until Tuesday, the Environment Agency has warned.

Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the agency, says "severe river flooding impacts" are probable in parts of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire today and into Sunday.

She adds major river flooding is happening on the River Derwent in Derby and ongoing flooding is "probable on some larger rivers including the Severn, Ouse and Trent through to Tuesday".

The agency's teams are out on the ground and have operated flood barriers and storage areas, she says.

Temporary defences, including pumps and barriers, have been deployed to minimise the impact of flooding and flood gates have been closed in affected areas.

Angus Council worker makes catch of the day

Ben Philip

BBC Scotland

BBC

Angus Council worker Gavin Stewart made this unexpected catch of the day in Brechin.

The rising levels of the River South Esk have left all kinds of debris on nearby roads.

Pets trapped in homes as Yorkshire village flooded

Erica Witherington

Reporting from Catcliffe, South Yorkshire

BBC

In Catcliffe Memorial Hall, families sit huddled in blankets, cats and dogs on laps and in boxes. Many tell me their pets are still trapped in their homes - they had to leave so quickly.

One lady says they just didn’t get any warning.

“I went to bed last night thinking everything was fine. At 5am my neighbour’s banging on the door and the police are telling us to get out of the house.”

Now her home is under six feet of water – for the second time.

This south Yorkshire village was severely flooded in 2007. “I had to buy a caravan and lived in it for a year. £700 is all I got. I’m disgusted this has happened again.”

The water level hasn’t even peaked yet and the rescue operation is still underway.

A yellow dingy pulls up on the pavement and a woman in wet pyjamas is helped out. Barefoot, she and her soaking dog make their way up the street to join her neighbours in the memorial hall

They know from experience, it will be long after Christmas before they return home.

BBC

Catcliffe in South Yorkshire has seen severe flooding

Homemade paddleboat comes to the rescue

Mary Scott/PA Media

Simon O'Brien built the boat for his grandchildren but on Friday it helped rescue elderly residents

Debenham in Suffolk was largely cut off by flooding last night, with some people having to shelter in the local leisure centre.

In one case, local man Simon O'Brien used a homemade paddle boat which he built for his grandchildren to rescue elderly residents trapped in their homes by flood water.

His partner Mary Scott says: "It's been sitting in the garden all summer waiting for an opportunity to launch.

"His family have teased him mercilessly about its 'seaworthiness' [but] it floats and came in very useful."

Watch: Road washed away by Storm Babet in Aberdeenshire

Storm Babet flooding has washed away a section of main road in the village of Marykirk in Aberdeenshire.

The village sits on the banks of the River Esk and has endured torrential rain and strong winds.

It is one of a number of areas in Scotland affected by a red weather warning on Saturday, meaning there is a danger to life.

Main road at Marykirk, Aberdeenshire washed away by Storm Babet flooding