BRITAIN TAKES A BATTERING AS STORM BRINGS CHAOS

Britain was buffeted by heavy rain during the first major storm of the autumn today

Friday September 5,2008

By Emily Garnham for express.co.uk

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BRITAIN is in the grip of a major autumn storm today as torrential rain and gale-force winds unleashed their fury with tragic consequences.

As a band of rain swept in from the Atlantic early this morning the storm claimed its first two victims when a man and a woman were killed after their car collided with a tree in Plymouth, Devon.

Large swathes of the country were deluged with heavy and persistent rain causing localised flooding.

According to the Met Office the storm is caused by “one of our standard Atlantic systems.”

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A spokeswoman told Express.co.uk: “We can expect this one to last all weekend as it makes its way across the country from the south west to the north east.”

In Wales the Environment Agency put six towns, along the River Rhymney and River Taff, on severe flood warnings this afternoon.

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This heavy rainfall is going to collect on the ground rather than drain away.

Met Office

A further 25 areas are on the ‘flood warning’ list and 62 areas – mainly in Wales and south east England have been downgraded to ‘flood watch’ status.

A number of roads were under water in Gloucestershire and a road in Gwent was closed following a landslide.

The AA reported a higher than normal number of breakdowns as cars ran into trouble after driving through floodwater.

And in Devon, one of the worst hit areas, a motorist had to be rescued by firefighters after a tree branch fell on his car.

Parts of the UK experienced gale-force winds, with gusts of more than 60mph recorded at headlands near Torbay in Devon this morning.

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The Met Office said: “The ground is already fairly saturated across much of the country following the rainfall this summer.

“This heavy rainfall is going to collect on the ground rather than drain away.”

Bodmin Moor in Cornwall was the wettest place in the UK yesterday, with more than one inch of rain falling overnight.

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