3rd Jan 2014 10:50
London (Alliance News) - Coastal areas of southern England, west Scotland and Northern Ireland braced on Friday for severe flooding, as strong winds and rain were set to combine with high tides.
The Environment Agency issued 21 severe flood warnings - the highest category, meaning danger to life - in south-west England, the Midlands and Wales, with lesser warnings in place across the country.
The southern counties of Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly were set to be the worst affected, with waves more than 30 feet high expected to hit the coast whilst four severe flood warnings are in place in Wales.
The Met Office has given out rain and wind warnings, with particular focus on west Scotland and Northern Ireland while the Scottish government said the tidal surge was expected at lunchtime, particularly around the Firth of Clyde, Solway Firth and Ayrshire.
The whole of Britain faced "exceptional weather," said Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who was to chair a meeting of the government's emergency "Cobra" committee to discuss the flood response.
Some travel has been disrupted Friday including delays in the First Great Western train services and Welsh Arriva Trains but most airports and train companies are not warning passengers of disruption at this point.
The Environmental Agency and Coastguard have insisted that people should stay away from these coastal areas after storms in recent weeks have led to two people being being swept out to sea, left hundreds of thousands of households in Britain without electricity and caused many homes to flood.
The severe weather comes as large parts of the US began experiencing massive disruptions Friday after a winter storm slammed into the North-East, dumping up to 60 centimetres of snow in places.
About 100 million people - nearly one-third of the US population - and more than 20 of the 50 US states were in the path of the storm with the North-East the hardest hit, CNN reported.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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