A SLEEPLESS NIGHT FOR BRITAIN — Storm Claudia leaves villages underwater as a major incident is declared, with 90 flood warnings and authorities warning of a ‘significant risk to life’ as snow and a cold snap approach.

Villages have been left submerged underwater today as Storm Claudia battered large swathes of England and Wales.

A major incident has been declared in parts of the country while more than 90 flood warnings remain in place amid the fallout of the devastating storm.

A yellow rain warning covering central and northern England, the South West and Wales lifted at 6am, but the dangerous conditions have shown little sign of easing.

In the early hours of this morning, Natural Resources Wales issued four severe flood warnings.

They said there was a ‘significant risk to life and significant disruption to the community is expected’ amid the unrelenting weather.

Elsewhere in Monmouth, a major incident was declared after ‘severe and widespread’ flooding left parts of the town cut off.

Police, paramedics, Mountain Rescue and the Coastguard have spent the night carrying out welfare checks, evacuations and urgent water rescues.

Area manager Matt Jones said the situation on the ground remained volatile, with fast-moving floodwater, blocked roads and mounting pressure on key infrastructure making access difficult.

‘This is a large-scale incident, and our crews and partners have been working tirelessly through the night and into today to help those affected,’ he said.

‘I want to thank everyone involved for the professionalism and care they continue to show in very difficult circumstances.

‘I would urge the public to avoid the Monmouth area completely where possible. The flooding is significant, and we need to keep routes clear to allow emergency services to reach the people who need us most.

‘If you are in immediate danger with threat to life or property, or need urgent assistance, please call 999.’

Power outages have also been reported, and floods have hit some areas in the south east of Ireland.

Thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power this morning as rain weather warnings lifted in the south-east.

Dramatic flooding was reported in Portarlington, on the border of counties Laois and Offaly, despite no rain warning being issued for those counties.

Fallen trees have blocked roads in parts of the country and social media videos appear to show sea foam being dramatically whipped onto shore at Loughshinny, Dublin and Bray, Co Wicklow.

The ESB said less than 5,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power as of 9am and that crews had been responding to outages since Friday.

A spokesman said the storm brought a ‘modest impact’ to electricity infrastructure in line with previous such wind warnings.

A status orange rain warning was in place for counties Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow until 8am today, while a status yellow rain warning was in place in 10 other counties, mostly along the east and south coasts, until 9am.

Weather forecaster Met Eireann warned people to be alert for ‘significant’ flooding and hazardous travelling conditions.

Meanwhile, a 4×4 was abandoned after the driver risked navigating a flooded ford in the Hall Green area of Birmingham last night.

Smashed windows could be seen, suggesting the occupants were unable to open the doors due to the torrent of water.

Previously in the evening the road had fire service cordon tape across to try and stop drivers risking their lives through The River Cole. Police tape has now been added but no officers are on scene.

The vehicle is wedged under a footbridge, preventing it from floating downstream.

The Met Office says England and Wales can expect further spells of patchy rain and drizzle through the day, while Scotland and Northern Ireland enjoy brighter skies and occasional sunshine.

But flood risk remains acute: more than 90 Environment Agency flood warnings are still active today.

A severe amber rain alert had covered central areas of England and Wales until just before midnight on Friday, with one Welsh gauge recording more than 60 per cent of its usual monthly rainfall in a single deluge.

Officials warn that any new outbreaks of rain could rapidly worsen conditions, particularly in eastern England and parts of Co Down in Northern Ireland.

And once the rain moves on, the cold arrives as forecasters expect a sharp temperature drop from Sunday and into next week, bringing sleet and snow to north-facing coasts and upland areas.

The UK Health Security Agency has already issued a cold weather alert for regions across the Midlands and the North beginning Monday.

Disruption is expected until Saturday and National Rail has advised travellers to check before they travel.

On the roads, the storm also hit rail replacement services, and roadside assistance companies reported a busy day with a high number of callouts on Friday.

The cold weather alert is in place from 8am on Monday November 17 until 8am on Friday November 21 and covers the East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, North West and Yorkshire and The Humber.

Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: ‘Overnight (on) Saturday and throughout the course of Sunday, we will start to see winds changing to be a bit more northerly, introducing a lot of Arctic air.

‘Clouds will clear throughout the course of the day so it will allow for some sunshine, but with it, it’s going to be turning much colder.

‘I think people are really going to notice a chill into Sunday and feeling cold in many areas.

‘Things are starting to turn less stormy, a bit brighter, but it’s going to be feeling a lot colder and, as we head into next week, we’ll see a continuation of that.’

The wintry snap comes as Storm Claudia left a trail of disruption across the country, hammering Britain with a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours yesterday and threatening to derail the second day of Cheltenham.

Conditions at Prestbury Park deteriorated steadily through the afternoon, the track already cut up by the opening day’s racing.

While the most intense phase of Storm Claudia passed late yesterday, its legacy of saturated ground, gale-force gusts and swollen rivers continued to cause chaos into the night.

Roads were flooded, trees toppled onto major routes and rail services were crippled, including a West Midlands Railway service left badly damaged after striking a fallen tree near Blakedown in Worcestershire.

Christmas light switch-ons were cancelled from Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter to villages in Warwickshire and South Yorkshire, while a Winter Wonderland in Norwich scrapped its launch due to the ‘severe weather forecast’.

Amber warnings for ‘persistent and heavy’ rain remained in force until midnight, covering large swathes of the UK, with more than 130 flood alerts still active.

Two yellow wind warnings also stretched across parts of north-west Wales and north-west England, as emergency response teams from the British Red Cross were placed on standby amid forecasts of 70mph gusts and isolated thunderstorms.

Jon Pullin, clerk of the course at Cheltenham, told Racing TV: ‘We’ve had 12mm of rain through the day to add to the 7mm overnight and as we’ve been racing this afternoon we’ve opened up the track.

‘We’ve still got further rain to come, possibly until midnight and we could see some heavy spells in the next couple of hours.’