London, (Samajweekly) Hundreds of properties have been flooded and residents evacuated in the UK, after a week of heavy rainfall across the country. Major travel disruptions have also been caused by the prolonged extreme weather.
The Environment Agency told media on Friday that around 1,000 properties in England have been flooded this week, Xinhua news agency reported.
The London Fire Brigade said on Friday that approximately 50 people had been evacuated after a canal burst its banks in Hackney Wick, East London, on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, a major incident has been declared along the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, with residents being asked to prepare for evacuation in areas at risk of flooding.
Earlier this week, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain, which is expected to continue until Friday.
More than 500 flood warnings and alerts were in place for England on Friday morning, after a week of persistent rain across the country, caused mainly by Storm Henk.
Rail services in the country were also impacted by flooding, with train operator Great Western Railway warning of reduced or cancelled services.
A lifeboat station on the Thames in London urged boats to stay off the river, which in the Kingston area “is currently running twice as fast as it was last Friday and is extremely powerful.”
Reacting to the havoc caused by the rains, the Labour Party accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of being “asleep at the wheel” over flood warnings at the end of a week in which swathes of England and Wales have been underwater and at least 1,000 properties flooded.
Sunak, who was on a pre-planned trip to meet voters in the north-west, said he had spoken to people affected by the floods earlier in the week, The Guardian reported.
“I just want people to be reassured that the Environment Agency has got people on the ground in all the affected areas, also hundreds of high-volume pumps are in practice right now making a difference and it is important that people follow the advice that has been given in local areas where there are flood warnings that have been given,” Sunak was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
