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Parts of northern England are suffering their worst floods in more than 70 years with weeks of heavy rain leaving vast areas under water on both sides of the Pennines mountains. British Prime Minister David Cameron has sent in 500 soldiers to help the exhausted residents and emergency workers. A further 1,000 troops remain on standby.… Continue reading Worst floods for 70 years swamp northern England |
Tag Archives: England
Great Britain gripped by cold and snow – seen from space
Cold winter weather that has been called the worst in 50 years has gripped England and turned deadly. Showing the widespread extent of the snowfall, NASA released imagery today from its Terra satellite showing the nation under a blanket of white.
The severe cold in the country has turned deadly and claimed 22 lives since it first struck last month. Schools across the nation have been forced to close and air and road travel has been severely impacted. Many homes have found themselves without power.
The nation found itself unprepared by the cold as it was facing shortages of road salt and more critically, natural gas for heating. Suppliers of salt said they were having a hard time keeping up with demand and may very well run out before the cold weather is finished. Companies in northern England have been ordered to shut down in order to preserve natural gas supplies.
Unusually heavy snow and cold has affected not only Great Britain but large swaths of the Northern Hemisphere. The eastern two thirds of the United States was experiencing far below normal temperatures and Asia found itself dealing with snow and cold as well.
For a larger image, please check out the story on the Natural Disasters Examiner.
England sees record rainfall that brings flooding
The normally picturesque view of England’s Lake District saw itself become the scene of a rescue operation as helicopters and lifeboats plucked hundreds residents and brought them to safety. The area recorded the most rainfall ever recorded in the nation and the weather was responsible for the death of a local constable.
Widespread heavy rain across England and Ireland caused flooding that brought floods as deep as eight feet and engorged rivers that brought down bridges. England set a national rainfall record when 12.3 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours last week at Seathwaite Farm according to Britain’s Met Office.
In the town of Cockermouth, officials estimate 1,000 homes were flooded and more than 200 people were rescued. Local emergency responders and British soldiers conducted house to house searches to extract those struck by the floods. The town, 300 miles northwest of London, is at the confluence of the Cocker and Derwent rivers and is the birthplaces of poet William Woodsworth.
