Norfolk flooding: Emergency services declare major incident
24 December 2020, 08:45 | Updated: 24 December 2020, 10:35
Heavy downpours caused emergency services in parts of England and Wales to be inundated with calls and a major incident has been declared in Norfolk.
Norfolk Fire and Rescue services took 300 calls overnight due to flooding and a major incident was declared.
A yellow Met Office weather warning for rain stretched from East Anglia, across Leicester, parts of Birmingham and north London, and through to mid-Wales and Cornwall, and remained in place until 2am on Thursday.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service received 500 calls for help on Wednesday as the downpours hit many parts of the country.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said they had handled more than 250 flood calls, with several properties inundated and multiple people rescued from their stranded vehicles.
The Environment Agency (EA) had issued more than 90 flood warnings for England as of 5am on Thursday, including 16 warnings related to the River Severn on the Welsh border.
Other areas covered by flood warnings included part of the Great River Ouse and the Chediston watercourse in Suffolk.
Nine further flood warnings were issued by Natural Resources Wales.
The Environment Agency also issued a further 149 flood alerts, which warn of possible flooding and urge preparedness.
Nottinghamshire Police said emergency services had been called to a report of a landslide near some homes near a former quarry at 11.40pm on Wednesday.
The force said a "small number" of properties have been evacuated, and police, fire and ambulance services, along with Mansfield District Council officials, were sent at the scene at Bank End Close in Mansfield to conduct safety assessments.
According to a Natural Resources Wales gauge, 60.4 mm of rain fell within 13 hours at the Trevethin reservoir in southern Wales on Wednesday.
44.6 mm of rain was also detected in Corby, Northamptonshire, in the same period according to Environment Agency figures.
The heavy rain caused disruption to travel, with many areas including Cardiff reporting surface water on the roads.
Alex Burkill, a meteorologist for the Met Office said: "There's been a lot of wet weather around, we've had a heavy rain across much of England and Wales, particularly southern parts of Wales but also further east.
"Most places in England and Wales have been really wet and we've seen strengthening winds too, there have been some gales in exposed parts, so quite unpleasant really."
Mr Burkill later said the rainfall would cease overnight into Christmas Eve.
He said: "The wet weather we've got over us at the moment that's all going to clear away towards the south-east as we go through the night so for Christmas Eve we're going to have lots of fine weather around, with lots of sunshine and a cold northerly flow."
