Towns hit by previous floods in England have yet again been affected as Storm Ciara has brought severe gales and flooding to the UK, disrupting travel by road, rail, air and ferries and causing power cuts for thousands of homes.

The Environment Agency is warning that coastal, local river and surface water flooding could continue into Tuesday as a result of the extreme weather.

In Wales roads remain closed and train services cancelled with the rail network effectively shut all day yesterday across Wales and parts of the Cambrian rail line under water. Wind speeds reached 93mph on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd on Sunday.

In Cumbria, where more than 150mm (6in) of rain fell in the county in 24 hours, the town of Appleby has been particularly badly hit by flooding as water levels rose within 2ft of those seen during Storm Desmond in 2015.

Communities along the Calder Valley are assessing the damage – parts of the towns of Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge and Brighouse, which were hit by the devastating Boxing Day floods in December 2015, are once again under water. The area was also hit by floods in 2012. Many homes and businesses are no longer able to obtain insurance for their properties - with insurance either unobtainable or unaffordable. 

Following the flooding, millions of pounds have been invested in flood defences, including a £30 million scheme in Mytholmroyd. However, some of these have not yet been completed.

Since January 2016, the Environment Agency, on behalf of the Calderdale Flood Recovery and Resilience Programme, has been working in partnership with Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and the community to produce a flood action plan for Calderdale.

The partnership is currently on target to deliver major schemes for Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge and Brighouse by 2021.

Work is also ongoing to progress a number of Flood Risk Reduction Schemes across the borough, including the preparation of outline business cases, site investigations and hydraulic analysis. A number of these are likely to be delivered after 2021.

The Calderdale Flood Action Plan was originally published in October 2016 and updated in June 2017. The plan was updated in December 2019 showing completed, revised and new actions.

The Environment Agency currently has more than 139 flood warnings in place for England where flooding is expected and immediate action is required and around 170 flood alerts where flooding is possible in place across the country.

A total of 210 flood warnings and flood alerts has been removed in the last 24 hours.

The Agency has staff on the ground checking defences and is urging people to be safe when out, and not to drive through flood water.

Chris Wilding, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, commented:

“Some significant river flooding is possible across parts of the north of England today due to heavy, persistent rain and severe gale force winds associated with Storm Ciara. We urge people in at-risk areas to remain vigilant.”

In Scotland, 15 regional flood alerts and 46 local flood warnings are currently in force from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Nigel Goody, SEPA's Duty Flood Manager, said:

"Overnight and across today, Storm Ciara has continued to batter Scotland with a dangerous combination of high tides, high storm surge & high inshore waves across coastal areas.”

"As well as coastal impacts, we’ve seen heavy rainfall cross Borders and Dumfries & Galloway. We’re seeing widespread minor river flooding impacts with significant impacts in a few areas.”

In Wales, Natural Resources Wales has 11 flood warnings and 33 flood alerts currently in place.