Parts of the UK are facing another day of weather-rel ated disruption as more rain and wind sweep across the country, while hundreds of people are having to clean up after homes and businesses were flooded.
Two Met Office severe weather warnings remained in place on Tuesday morning and there were concerns about further flooding in the south-west of England and parts of Wales.
A major incident remained in place for Somerset after homes and businesses in towns including Somerton, Chard, South Petherton and Ilminster were flooded, forcing about 100 people to be evacuated, some by boat.
In Cornwall, the hamlet of Trenarren, near St Austell, was cut off after a tree came down in strong winds, blocking the only road in and out. Supplies were passed over the fallen tree to stranded villagers.
A yellow severe weather warning for south-west and parts of southern England was due to expire at 10am on Tuesday and the Met Office said it was likely to be a day of showers and sunshine, with gales, hail and thunder in some places.
A separate yellow warning is likely to remain in place for south Wales and parts of mid-Wales until 9pm on Tuesday, with flooding possible, potentially leading to road closures and affecting bus and rail services.
On Tuesday morning there were 31 flood warnings in place in England, meaning flooding was expected, including for the River Avon around Bristol, the Axe at Axminster and the River Severn at Tewkesbury. There were also 168 flood alerts, meaning flooding was possible.
There were nine flood alerts in Wales, including for the River Wye in Monmouthshire and Powys and the west coast of Anglesey.
The Environment Agency said flash flooding had taken place in Somerset because the ground was already saturated. It said it needed to “shepherd” a huge amount of water through the system and stop water spilling on to the low-lying Somerset moors.
Ben Lukey, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said it was possible the impacts could continue into Wednesday and Thursday.
He said: “Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding and will support local authorities in their response. We urge people to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”
National Highways said one lane of the A303 was closed westbound near Yeovil because of flooding on Tuesday morning.
The bad weather is linked to Storm Herminia, a low-pressure system named by meteorologists in Spain, which was expected to feel the strongest winds. Gusts of 84mph and almost 60mm of rainfall hits parts of southern England on Monday.
The Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said Wednesday and Thursday would be mostly fine. “The trend over the next few days is for things to gradually improve a bit,” he said.
Work continues in Northern Ireland and Scotland to restore power to people cut off during Storm Éowyn at the weekend. Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, said: “It’s a warning to us that climate change is with us and the ferocity [of it].”
Repair teams from across Europe have begun arriving in the Irish republic to help restore power, with more than 100,000 homes still without power four days after Storm Éowyn.
The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said support from the UK had already been deployed to worst-affected areas, with further support coming on Tuesday and later in the week from electricity network operators in Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and France.
Communities in rural Ireland have been left in icy conditions indoors without electricity to power boilers and without water in some cases, raising concerns about elderly people and those living alone in rural areas.
ESB has said it may not be able to reach every home for another week. On Monday it helicoptered a generator to one of the Aran Islands off Galway.
The international response is unprecedented and reflects the extent of the damage caused by one of the most powerful and extensive storms ever to hit Ireland, with winds of 113mph in Galway, the worst in 80 years.
One man was killed when a tree fell on his car, roofs were lifted off houses and commercial premises, gable walls and windows blown out and one of Ireland’s first wind turbines was snapped in Galway.
