Storm Ciara – Live updates

The River Ouse is set to peak tomorrow (Tuesday), below its all time high.

According to York Central MP Rachael Maskell, the Ouse now expected to peak at 5am to the level of 4.2m.

She tweeted that this is the level it reached in early December 2015 with Storm Desmond. The one that brought the devastating Boxing Day floods that year was Storm Eva.

Her tweet at 2.19pm came shortly after this graphic from the Flood Warning Information Service, suggesting a peak at 5.45am of 4.42m.

Ms Maskell wrote: “The incident room at the Environment Agency is open. I thank the staff for their hard work over the weekend.”

Here’s another victim of Storm Ciara.

The high winds have felled a large mature tree on Acomb Green.

The tree, thought to be an oak, was photographed by Gavin Aitchison this morning (Monday).

More on York readying its flood defences, first mentioned at 4.55pm.

City of York Council has issued a statement outlining the latest safety measures in the light of rising river levels.

“With river levels predicted to rise to the highest levels seen since the 2015 floods, the council has been putting in defences to protect those areas most affected,” it says.

That means putting sandbags in place at:

• Clementhorpe
• Tower Gardens
• and Tower Place, which also gets a pump to clear water.

Flood boards have been installed at Peckitt Street.

Further measures like the closure of St George’s Field car park and Rowntree Park are likely to happen in the early hours of tomorrow, although plans will be revised if the forecasts change.

• We’re expecting the river to reach high levels tomorrow afternoon, so a flood warning is now just a matter of when rather than if.

  As a city, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort preparing for flood risk so we can protect people and property so, by and large, we should be able to get on with daily life.

  We’re putting place the local and citywide flood defences, and any residents or businesses at risk of flooding should also put their own flood plans in place.

  It’ll be business as usual for York tomorrow, just take extra care on the roads and remember that riverside paths and cycle ways are likely to be affected as river levels rise.
  

Two useful websites – the council’s flood advice page, and the national flood warnings site.

Unsurprisingly, we have more flood alerts from the Environment Agency.

It issued an alert for the River Foss catchment at 6.46pm.

The agency said:

• River levels have risen and are likely to remain high overnight. Avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses.

  We are monitoring the situation closely.
  

There are now five flood alerts around York, concerning:

• Lower River Nidd
• River Foss catchment
• Tidal River Ouse from Naburn Lock to Selby
• Upper River Derwent
• Upper River Ouse

A flood alert has this afternoon (Sunday) been issued for the upper River Ouse.

And City of York Council says it is ready with its flood defence plan.

The flood alert was issued by the Environment Agency at 4.40pm, after the heavy rain brought by Storm Ciara. It says:

• There has been widespread heavy rain accompanied by high winds throughout Sunday 09/02/2020, and we expect further patchy rainfall throughout the coming week. River levels are rising and are currently 1.8m at York Viking recorder and rising.

  We expect levels to rise above 4.5m mid-afternoon tomorrow Monday 10/02/20 and remain high into next week along the River Ouse catchment.

  Avoid using low lying footpaths near local water courses. We are monitoring the situation closely and expect to operate the Foss barrier.
  

City of York Council tweeted out: “With all this water around from #StormCiara, river levels are rising.

“We’re working with partners to monitor our rivers, and are ready to put in place our flood defence plans to protect our communities as the needs arise.”

These pictures show how a falling tree caused serious problems on a street in Tang Hall, York, earlier today.

The tree, brought down by Storm Ciara, hit a car on St Hilda’s Mews.

It struck a white Nissan Juke, causing damage to its roof and door. The car was being driven at the time. A witness said the driver was shocked but appeared otherwise unhurt, but had to be checked out by medics.

The tree blocked the road for some time but it has now been cleared away and the road is passable again.

Thanks to reader Kelly Maughan for the photos.

You can now get through on Stockton Lane.

A tree had fallen close to the mini-roundabout near the stray and was all but blocking the road.

But a City of York Council worker has done a great job of cutting back the tree and clearing the road.

Gale force winds and torrential rain are battering North Yorkshire today as Storm Ciara hits our neck of the woods.

North Yorkshire Police say their Force Control Room is being inundated with calls.

There is widespread flooding, particularly in the Skipton and Craven areas, trees are blocking roads and it’s generally not particularly safe out there.

North Yorkshire Police say:

• No corner of the county has escaped today’s bad weather, and our Force Control Room and frontline officers have dealt with a large range and high volume of weather-related incidents.

  We’re working closely with other organisations including North Yorkshire’s Highways team to keep routes as clear as possible and divert motorists if absolutely necessary.
  

You can read the full story here.

We’ll keep updating our live blog with any news from York and around.