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Storm Franklin: Flooding and evacuations as third storm in four days nears UK


Flooding driven by heavy rain has prompted evacuations in parts of the UK as Storm Franklin approaches.


There is severe flooding in parts of Northern Ireland, while people in Yorkshire and Manchester have been forced to leave their homes for safety.


The brunt of the new storm is forecast to hit overnight.


Franklin comes days after Storm Eunice killed three people and left 1.4 million homes without power, with nearly 56,000 still to be reconnected.


The Met Office has issued two weather warnings for Sunday evening and Monday:

  • An amber warning for wind in the north of Northern Ireland from 00:00 GMT to 07:00 on Monday

  • A yellow warning for wind covering Wales, Northern Ireland, most of England and parts of south-west Scotland from 12:00 on Sunday until 13:00 on Monday

More than 140 flood warnings are in place across the north of England, with Yorkshire and Manchester the worst hit by flooding.


North Yorkshire Fire Service has been working to rescue people, posting a picture of one in progress as waters engulfed a caravan site in Knaresborough.


More than 400 homes in south Manchester are being evacuated after two severe flood warnings indicated a danger to life.


‘First time’ Met Office recorded three storms in less than a week

The Met Office recording three major storms in the space of days is unprecedented in the seven years since the storm naming system was introduced.


Meteorologist Becky Mitchell said: “This is the first time we have had three named storms within a week, and we started the storm naming system in 2015.


“At the moment we’ve got a really active jet stream, which is why we’re seeing so many storms track right towards the UK.


“We had Dudley on Wednesday, Eunice on Friday and Franklin today.”


Franklyn comes hot on the heels of Storm Eunice and Storm Dudley earlier this week, which saw gales of up to 122mph cause damage and travel chaos across Britain.


Three people died in Eunice, which hit on Friday and has caused an estimated £300,000 worth of damage, while tens of thousands of homes are still without power.


The deadly storm, which reached speeds of over 100mph in London saw part of the roof ripped away from the O2 arena in the capitals docklands area and the majority of rail services cancelled.


Storm Eunice also resulted in the Humber Bridge being fully closed for only the fourth time ever, on the M5 two lanes were closed after a lorry toppled over in the strong winds and on the M40 dash cam footage captured the moment a lorry overturned in the high winds.



In Surrey, the principal contractor, Kier Highways said it had responded to a total of 511 emergency callouts, 483 of which were tree related, with similar situations reported across the country.


Elsewhere Center Parcs closed four of their six parks with immediate effect on Friday and on Sunday Morning Network Rail Scotland announced that trains on its West coast mainline and West Highland Lines.


Please Note this is a developing story and will continue to be updated.

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