Floods devastate swathes of Britain

THERE were warnings of more flooding to come as huge parts of Britain were underwater yesterday after Storm Babet battered the country for a third day.

- Tony Whitfield

Scotland bore the brunt with a rare "danger to life" red alert for the second consecutive day for parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire.

The warning hampered the search for a motorist missing after rising waters were said to have trapped the man in his car in Marykirk early on Friday.

The storm has already claimed the lives of two in Scotland and one in Shropshire.

Residents from around 100 homes across Angus were rescued from their flooded homes by boats and canoes. Some in the village of Bridge of Dun near Montrose were airlifted out by helicopter.

Scottish Eight Professional Football League matches were postponed while train services were disrupted and roads closed because of flooding or fallen trees.

Among the areas also hit by Storm Babet is Derbyshire. Emergency crews rescued 20 people from a care home as cars were submerged in flood water.

And Labour MP Toby Perkins said 400 homes in his Chesterfield constituency were swamped.

It came as three danger-to-life severe flood warnings were issued along the River Derwent, including for parts of Derby, where it reached 11ft 6in high yesterday, compared to its normal height of 6ft 6in.

Charles Edwards, the city council's emergency planning officer, said: "The city has never seen river levels this high before."