York’s streets turn to rivers after heavy rain causes the Ouse to burst its banks

York was hit by heavy flooding today after the river Ouse burst its banks leaving streets underwater.

Dozens of vehicles were stranded in the city after two weeks’ worth of rain fell in 24 hours on Monday before more rainfall today caused water levels to rise further.

The Kings Arms, which is so used to flooding that it nails its furniture to the floor, was left marooned by the rising water levels.

More than an inch of rain was forecast to hit northwest England and western Scotland today before the deluge cleared eastwards ahead of a mixture of sunny spells and showers in the late afternoon. 

It comes as two people in Helston, Cornwall died after being swept swept into the sea from the harbour wall, by the strong winds. 

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that a woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s were recovered from the water by the Coastguard helicopter crew and taken to Treliske hospital but were pronounced dead.

Temperatures are expected to plummet ahead of the national lockdown on Thursday as lows reach 33F (1C) and frost and foggy conditions roll in overnight. 

But the cold snap is set to be followed by highs of 53F (12C) in the southwest on Wednesday and 57F (14C) in the south east on Saturday when the Jet Stream changes shape building an area of high pressure in the mid-Atlantic.  

It comes as the Yorkshire Dales were seen covered in the first snowfall of the winter, in a video taken by walker Thomas Beresford, while walkers in Scotland also enjoyed a sprinkling of the stuff after it fell in the Cairngorms National Park.

Met Office spokesman Nicola Maxey said: ‘Rainfall is easing in the north west from today with a change to more settled, dry conditions with some sunny spells for the rest of the week. There is a chance of overnight frost and some fog possible.’   

By Wednesday more sunny spells will appear although temperatures will remain ‘rather cold’ despite feeling less so due to light winds, according to Met Office forecasts. Northern Scotland will see wet and windy weather.  

Later in the week it will remain dry with sunny spells and overnight patchy frost and fog until rain returns to the south again on Saturday afternoon.     

For now the wet weather remains and showers continue to line the west coast today. Skies are expected to dry up over Wednesday before rain returns later in the week. 

There are 22 flood warnings in place – the majority in the northwest- and 35 flood alerts spread along the length of the country.

This could spell chaos for people living in Otley, West Yorkshire, who were warned to barricade their doors with sandbags after the River Wharfe burst its banks over the weekend. 

Residents who live near the river were warned to take ‘immediate action’ by the Government’s flooding information service and to activate flood protection measures, including sandbagging their front doors.

Water levels hit peaks of more than 3.5m at 7am trapping shocked motorists in their vehicles.

One resident said she was shocked as the river ‘rose so fast’.

Amelia Bradbourne said: ‘The river rose so fast, I didn’t even hear any rain last night.

Met Office forecaster Oli Claydon said: ‘As we go through the week, the wind speeds will gradually reduce as the high pressure starts to dominate.

‘From Tuesday night, the influence of high pressure from the Atlantic starts to take hold.

‘The skies are clearer, leading to some cold temperatures on Wednesday morning, leading to the chance of frost in the south and central parts.

‘A chilly start to Wednesday morning, certainly compared to the previous mild temperatures. Wednesday itself, a few showers around but generally bright, clear conditions.

‘Another cold night in central and southern parts into Thursday. And then Friday is really probably the last day where the high pressure will stay in charge.

‘So still settled into Friday with bright, dry conditions for many, before more unsettled conditions move in from the south into the weekend,’ he added. 

‘Nothing surprises me with this year any more though.’

Another disgruntled resident Amelia Websdale said: ‘Who needs national lockdown when you can just be marooned by a flood in your own house.’

While firefighters in North Yorkshire used boats to rescue motorists who became stranded after trying to drive down flooded roads. 

It comes after the tail end of Hurricane Zeta lashed the UK Sunday, just hours after Storm Aiden swept in on Saturday. 

In Norfolk, the bad weather saw more than 1,000 homes lose electricity and engineers were working on Monday to restore power.

The terrible weather comes after last month’s deluges. Saturday October 3rd saw enough rainfall to more than fill the Loch Ness, making it the wettest day on record. An average of 31.7mm (1.24ins) fell on that day alone.