Floody HELL: Thousands of homes at risk of being swallowed by rising waters with more than 200 areas braced for more misery. as Scandinavian storm hurtles towards UK threatening more snow and ice chaos from TONIGHT
Forecasters warn the wintry weather will hit from 10pm tonight and could last the rest of the week
Some 200 flood warnings or alerts are in force for England today along with a further six for Wales
It follows heavy downpours, strong winds and large waves across southern England over the weekend
Wintry blitz is predicted to arrive this evening across the Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and North East
Time Out Farm in West Oxfordshire. Pic from Rob Rhodes PICTURES show a farm swamped in diesel after a spillage from an RAF base. Farmer Rob Rhodes, from Time Out Sanctuary in West Oxfordshire, had to make a desperate dash through his flooded fields in the middle of the night on Saturday to rescue his animals from the oil. He said that with the help of a ‘younger gentleman’ from RAF Brize Norton he moved ’30 or so’ ponies into a spare field where had a ‘whale of a time’ destroying his bales of hay. He has now made another urgent plea for hay as personnel from the West Oxfordshire RAF base pump away and clear up the spilt diesel on his land.
Some paths have been rendered virtually unusable, with hikers struggling to keep their footing.
Other trails looked impassable, with routes widening from two to 12 metres as walkers ignore designated tracks.
Meanwhile, walking the dog has become a Herculean task as murky puddles have to be waded through.
With more rain set to lash the South, walkers are already struggling to contend with muddy conditions along the Downlands Circular walk in Surrey
Even experienced walkers have been struggling to cope with the conditions in Hampstead Heath, as the National Trust urges people to avoid walking on the grass and instead use designated footpaths
A herd of Shetland ponies has been evacuated from their field to escape a fuel spillage at an RAF base.
Rob Rhodes, who owns Time Out Animal Farm in Oxfordshire, said he had to move around 20 ponies from the land on Friday evening after the diesel was spilled – but the animals are now having a “whale of a time” in their new home.
Mr Rhodes said he was feeding other animals when he saw a man from RAF Brize Norton running towards him to warn him of the spillage.
He said: “I was feeding an alpaca and two donkeys on the farm and all of a sudden my two Alsatian guard dogs put their ears up and started running at somebody who was running towards me.
BBC News
Published
image captionA number of animals had to be moved to safety after the fuel spill
Ponies at an animal sanctuary have been evacuated from their field after a diesel spill from an RAF base.
About 1,600 litres spilled from a tank at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on to land occupied by neighbouring Time Out Animal Farm on Friday night.
Sanctuary founder Rob Rhodes said a number of Shetland ponies had to be moved to safety but were unharmed.
The RAF said the spill was spotted by a member of the public but it was quickly contained.
Mr Rhodes said he had been putting his animals to bed at about 18:00 GMT when a member of RAF personnel came running over.