Fresh danger to life flood warnings have been issued as water levels continue to rise in the wake of Storm Babet, while cleanup operations get under way in some of the worst-hit areas.
All weather warnings triggered by the storm had expired on Sunday morning, with drier and brighter weather forecast, but flooding is expected to last for days and two severe flood warnings, signalling danger to life, were later issued for Retford in Nottinghamshire.
Nottinghamshire county council declared a major incident as about 200 properties were evacuated in the town as the River Idle reached record levels. It is not expected to peak until 8pm on Sunday.
The Environment Agency said communities should brace for flooding to continue into Wednesday, particularly in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire where some rivers have exceeded record levels seen in 2007.
Across England, 1,229 properties have been flooded since the storm took hold on Thursday, with more than 150 flood warnings still in place on Sunday. Scotland and Wales also have several flood warnings in place.
There have been three confirmed deaths as a result of the storm, and there are fears the number may rise.
On Friday, a man in his 60s died when he was swept away by flood water in Shropshire, the same day a 56-year-old man was killed when a falling tree hit a van near Forfar in Scotland. A 57-year-old woman was swept away by a river in Angus on Thursday afternoon.
Police Scotland said they were continuing to search for a driver reported to be trapped in a vehicle in flood water in Marykirk, Aberdeenshire, in the early hours of Friday.
The body of a woman in her 80s was found in a flooded property in Chesterfield on Saturday morning and, after initially saying her death was believed to be linked to flooding in the area, Derbyshire police later said her cause of death was unascertained.
One of the areas hardest hit by Storm Babet was Brechin in Angus, which was only accessible via boat on Saturday, and an evacuation order for the entire town was issued after the South Esk River burst its banks.
On Sunday, residents returned to their homes to find significant damage. “The devastation looks even worse than I thought. It’s just absolutely mind-blowing,” David Stewart, 68, told the PA news agency.
When asked why the town’s flood defences had not held up, Jacqui Semple, head of risk, resilience and safety for Angus council, said “we’re in uncharted territory” with regard to the climate and weather impact the area has faced.
Scotland’s justice secretary, Angela Constance, said that although flooding had receded, the impact of the storm “will be felt in communities for some time to come”.
ScotRail said most of its services would run as normal on Sunday but routes would remain closed between Aberdeen and Dundee, and Aberdeen and Elgin.
Network Rail said “residual disruption” was expected across a number of routes on Sunday, mainly affecting Scotland, LNER services, Yorkshire and East Anglia.
The Energy Network Association said a “small handful” of homes would still be without power on Sunday after about 100,000 customers initially suffered power cuts.
In Derby, the city council said it had seen record-breaking water levels along the River Derwent and warned that cleaning up after the floods could take several days.
The Museum of Making, situated on a Unesco world heritage site on the banks of the Derwent in Derby, said it was exposed to substantial flood damage that was likely to lead to significant loss of income, as it called for donations to help its recovery.
