Flood alert after teenager's river death

A community devastated by the death of a teenager in a swollen river was on flood alert again today as storms brought more chaos across Britain.

The 17-year-old died after the 4x4 she was travelling in plunged into floodwater in a remote area of forestry in Powys, mid Wales.

Related articles

• More UK news
• Search the news archive for more stories

As family members and friends were informed of the tragedy today, Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern areas of England and Wales were hit by another deluge.

Motorists faced long tailbacks on the road and a busy weekend of sport was hit, with race meetings in Warwickshire, Newcastle, Merseyside, Worcestershire, and Dublin cancelled after 11th hour inspections.

The Environment Agency (EA) warned the threat of flooding was likely to increase as rainwater drained into river systems in the coming hours.

There was one severe flood warning in place covering parts of south east Manchester, and more than 200 flood warnings or watches covering swathes of the UK.

Claire Austin, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said rainfall would not be as heavy as yesterday.

She added: "It is quite different to yesterday as there are no solid bands - we expect 30 to 40mm in the north, while the rest of the UK can expect 10 to 15mm of rain."

Inspector Robert Price of Dyfed-Powys Police said the girl and two other people were airlifted to hospital from the Llyn Briane Reservoir area of the county.

He said: "A 4x4 overturned and came to rest in a river.

"Three people have been airlifted to Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, two of them suffering from hypothermia. One casualty tragically died following arrival at the hospital."

The officer said flood water from the river had caused the vehicle to "lose its footing" and tip into the river.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "The threat of flooding is likely to increase, we cannot say how serious it might be until the rain has stopped falling."

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings across large swathes of the country, including all of Wales, south-west England, the North West, the West Midlands and parts of Northern Ireland.

Cultural events have also been disrupted with many now cancelled due to the weather.

Gloucestershire's biggest agricultural event, the Moreton-in-Marsh show, decided after an 11th-hour inspection to cancel, while today's big race meeting at Haydock Park, Merseyside, was abandoned after 35mm of rain.

Within a few hours race meetings at Stratford, Warwickshire; Gosforth Park, Newcastle; Leopardstown, Dublin; and Worcester, Worcestershire, followed suit.

Throughout yesterday people across the UK were evacuated from their homes and rescued from their cars.

Further misery was heaped on residents already hit by flooding. Carol Pritchard was contemplating abandoning her home in Lydney in Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean, after it was hit for the third time in a year.

Wales and south-west England bore the brunt of the deluge, with heavy and persistent rainfall causing localised flooding.

But as the rain bands moved north, Northumbria Police said they received "numerous" flood warnings from the Environment Agency.

Holidaymakers saw their trips ruined with flash-floods at Budle Bay, Longframlington and Wooler while, in North Yorkshire, two women were rescued after their car became trapped by 2ft of water in Carlton.