Flood worries return to Rothbury

Posted by The Journal on Nov 2, 09 09:12 AM in News

Flood worries returned to areas devastated by torrential rain just over a year ago.

Rothbury and Morpeth residents held their breath as they were hit by more than half a month of rain in less than four hours.

The North East was battered by driving rain and wind, with gusts of up to 60mph in parts over the weekend.

Northumberland was worst affected, with homes and roads flooded by surface water.

Emergency services sprung into action at around midday, and worked into the night .

An evacuation centre was set up at Rothbury 's Jubilee Hall in case people were forced out of their homes, and around 1,000 sandbags were dished out.

Hundreds of advice leaflets were also distributed to properties most at risk.

The Met Office said the North East was hit by 58mm of rain last night, and just 40mm of that fell in four hours. The average rainfall for the whole of November is 75mm.

Rob Clow, area manager for Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It was a full 12 hour operation lasting until around midnight. It started in the Haltwhistle area where there was localised flooding in different properties from surface water.

"At around 9pm the rivers started to get near to flooding. Luckily, we didn't have any properties actually affected by flooding from rivers, but it was getting close in some areas."

The worst affected areas of the UK were in Scotland.

Around 100 people were rescued from flooded-out properties in Huntley, Aberdeenshire.

And in Tayside, people were trapped in their cars and evacuated from their properties, with roads closed and trains cancelled as water levels soared across Angus, Perthshire, Grampian and Fife.

Rothbury weather »

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