Storm Babet – live: Army sent to flooded towns as Met Office issues rare red weather warning

The East Coast main line from Edinburgh, Newcastle and Yorkshire to London is in some disarray due to a series of problems – of which extreme weather is only one.

Storm Babet has led to the curtailment of an early train from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh; LNER, the train operator, says: “This is due to severe weather.”

Trespassers on the railway between Newcastle and Darlington have caused delays to some trains. Repairs to the Plessey Viaduct, between Cramlington and Morpeth in Northumberland, means only a single line is open – leading to cancellations and delays.

Network Rail said: “Specialist engineers from Network Rail need to carry out repair work to allow a full service.” Disruption is expected until 6 November.

Trains, planes and ferries are being affected by Storm Babet – which, warns the Met Office, will bring “exceptional rainfall and impactful wind for some”.

Forecasters have issued a red warning for rain for parts of eastern Scotland, affecting Angus and Aberdeenshire. The warning is in force from 6pm on Thursday through to 12 noon on Friday. It is issued because of “a danger to life from flood water, extensive flooding to homes and businesses and severely disrupted travel conditions”.

The chief meteorologist for the Met Office, Jason Kelly, said: “100–150mm of rain is expected to fall quite widely within the warning period, with some locations likely to see 200–250mm, which is expected to cause considerable impacts with flooding likely.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

A major clean-up operation is under way after flooding swamped several towns and villages in Ireland during Storm Babet.

Counties Cork and Waterford on the southern coast of the island were worst hit, with some areas still under water on Thursday morning.

Members of the Irish Defence Forces were deployed as part of the response to the floods.

The army and civil defence units supported evacuation measures in the town of Midleton in Co Cork, where more than 100 properties were flooded.

A number of businesses, including a prominent supermarket, were damaged by the rapidly rising water levels.

While the floods have since receded, almost 500 electricity customers in Midleton remained without power on Thursday morning, with network engineers from ESB working to restore supply.

Cork County Council said more than a month’s worth of rain fell in the space of 24 hours, leading to unprecedented flooding, saturated land and high river levels across the county.

Met Office map shows how much rain is expected from #StormBabet between now and Saturday.

An amber rain warning has just started for eastern Scotland that will last upto 6pm tomorrow, with another amber wind warning starting from 10am.

Yellow wind and rain warnings cover much of Scotland and Northern Ireland while a red warning for rain is in place for eastern Scotland starting at 6pm and lasting until noon tomorrow.

Cork county minister Simon Coveney said the flooding had “caused carnage” across the area while environment minister Eamon Ryan said his “heart goes out to all the residents and businesses” affected following Storm Babet.

Independent councillor for East Cork Liam Quaide said the scenes of flooding on Mill Street and Main Street in Midleton were “apocalyptic”.

“My wife and I were bringing our daughter home from CUH today and we got stranded for several hours with many other local residents on the outskirts of town as both roads home were off limits. We tried a couple of perilous detours and had to turn back,” Mr Quaide told the PA news agency.

“The scenes of devastation in Midleton today were an ominous sign of what is ahead of us as a nation if we don’t double down on climate mitigation and adaptation.”

“I’d like to commend the heroic work of Cork County Council staff, the Fire Service and Civil Defence Forces who worked around the clock evacuating and providing assistance to many people in distress.”

As Storm Babet lashes the country with two months’ worth of rainfall between Thursday and Saturday, the Met Office is predicting Thursday to be wet and windy for most of the country.

The forecaster says heavy and prolonged rainfall is expected across parts of Scotland with many areas under red and amber alerts, leading to flooding in places, especially in the east.

However, the rest of the UK will still see some mild sunny spells disrupted by heavy thundery showers in between.

The day will remain windy for all, with severe gales across Scotland.

Overnight, heavy rain will begin arriving across the southeast overnight, spreading to most areas by dawn.

Satellite imagery shows Storm Babet approaching the UK.

People in parts of Scotland that are under red alert have been urged to avoid travel and stay at home as Storm Babet is expected to bring severe flooding and disruption.

Schools in Angus will close at lunchtime on Thursday and remain closed on Friday.

The red warning states there is “danger to life from fast flowing or deep floodwater” in Aberdeenshire and Angus, with extensive flooding and road closures also expected, as well as warning of wind gusts in excess of 70mph (113km/h) affecting coastal areas.

It also warned of collapsed or damaged buildings and power cuts, and said some areas could be cut off for days.