Britain is at saturation point....and there's more rain to come

A 21-year-old woman has died and two others were seriously injured after a tree fell on them as floods and high winds battered the South West.

The three were injured when a large spruce collapsed in Exeter at 11.50pm.

The woman was trapped under the tree and taken to hospital where she later died, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

Inspector Andrea Webber of Devon and Cornwall Police said the woman had been living in a small tent sheltered against the wall at the roadside when the tree fell on it. She died almost immediately.

Intense downpours and gusts strong enough to bring down trees will continue to batter large areas of Britain today, weather forecasters warned last night.

Two Atlantic storms will dump two inches of rain on already sodden ground across the South-West and Wales, bringing further flooding.

Southern and eastern coastal areas will see wind speeds reach 70mph, while rain is expected to sweep across from the South-West into the Midlands and North in the afternoon. Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said ‘almost every part of the country’ would see rain today.

The forecast is grim news for the thousands who spent last week battling the harsh weather. At least 400 homes were flooded and the Environment Agency sent warnings to 9,000 householders at risk.

Even before this weekend’s downpours the agency had 48 flood warnings and 173 lesser ‘alerts’ in place. Areas likely to be affected by fresh floods include Devon, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The AA warned drivers to take extra care after three elderly people were treated for hypothermia when their car was swept away as it crossed a swollen ford in Warwickshire.

Network Rail said trains would remain suspended between Exeter and Bristol until at least tomorrow, but trains in Devon were still running along the exposed Dawlish coastal section of the Paddington to Penzance line despite heavy spray.

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