Storm Babet – live: Death toll rises to six as floods cause chaos

Experts say Babet is an “extraordinary” storm which has been fuelled by several factors, including the impact of a typhoon on jet stream and rising temperatures.

“Storm Babet is an extraordinary piece of weather caused by the interaction of a number of linked conditions across the world,” Dr Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said.

Six people are now suspected to have died in weather-related incidents during Storm Babet, reports suggest.

Two women were killed in a crash on the M4 involving a lorry and four cars, according to the MailOnline, with a teenage driver was killed in another crash hours later.

It came after West Mercia Police said a man in his 60s had died in the storm after getting caught in fast-flowing floodwaters in Shropshire.

Two people were also killed in separate incidents in Angus, Scotland, including a 57-year-old woman who was swept into a river and 56-year-old John Gillan whose vehicle was hit by a tree.

A “small handful” of homes will still be without power on Sunday after around 100,000 customers were affected by power cuts due to Storm Babet, the Energy Network Association (ENA) said.

Ross Easton from the ENA said: “99% of customers have been reconnected.

“With the exception of a small handful of homes where access remains challenging, all customers will be reconnected tonight.

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and our engineering and customer service teams for their hard work.”

Storm Babet is wreaking havoc in the north of the UK, with two people dead, hundreds of homes flooded or evacuated and another day of torrential rain to come.

A rare red weather warning was extended for parts of Scotland as amber and yellow warnings are in place for the rest of the UK with heavy downpours set to move south on Friday and into the weekend.

Follow the link below for pictures of the impact the storm is having:

Time-lapse footage shows the River North Esk bursting its banks and turning into a raging torrent as Storm Babet lashed Scotland.

Captured by Farson Digital Watercams in the Angus village of Edzell, the clip shows the river dramatically rising on Thursday evening.

“That’s a genuinely terrifying scene,” one person wrote, commenting on the video.

In the space of 18 hours – from 8:40am on Thursday to 4:10am on Friday 20 October – water levels surge before the webcam disconnects.

Jockey Hayley Turner made it safely to Ascot on Saturday after requiring a dramatic rescue from her flooded car on Friday.

The record-breaking rider is currently hunting down her 1,000th career victory and was hoping to arrive in Berkshire for Qipco British Champions Day on 999 winners, with a fancied ride on Docklands in the closing Balmoral Handicap.

The Environment Agency has warned that flooding from major rivers could continue until Tuesday, amid widespread disruption caused by Storm Babet which is posing a “risk to life” in some areas.

Three people have died since the storm hit the UK on Wednesday, while a search continues in Aberdeenshire after a report of a man trapped in a vehicle in floodwater.

Alexander-Arnold was involved in an accident after a 40ft electricity pylon smashed onto a car in front of the England international, according to The Sun.

The worst hit area in Scotland during Storm Babet is now an “improving picture”, but there are still fears of further floods as a red danger to life weather warning remains in place.

Forecasters have brought forward the end of the red warning in Scotland by six hours, but authorities remain braced for further flooding on Saturday afternoon amid the storm which has claimed the lives of two people north of the border.

People in up to 100 properties across Angus in East Scotland have been rescued from their flooded homes, with some airlifted out, a local authority official has said.

The alert for extreme rain during the storm now ends at 6pm, rather than midnight, and covers a smaller area than on Friday – solely Angus and Aberdeenshire.