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York’s Bloom! Festival will not go ahead this year – but will be back next summer

A previous summer event in York – Bloom! 2018. Photograph: Richard McDougall

Make It York has today announced that Bloom! – York’s festival of horticulture – will not go ahead this summer.

The event was planned to take place across the city from 20-28 June, but has been cancelled due to the escalating uncertainties surrounding the impact of Covid-19.

MD of Make It York Sean Bullick said:

  • It is with deep sadness that we have made this decision, but ultimately it is the right thing to do given the uncertainties that we all face as a result of the ongoing coronavirus situation.

    We have had discussions with our festival main sponsor, York BID and our other valued partners and sponsors across the city and we are all in agreement that this is, unfortunately, a necessary step we must take at this time.

The BID and Make It York are now looking at how to bring Bloom! back in 2021.

Further details will be announced later in the year.

More cases of coronavirus confirmed in York

A woman wears a face mask near Shambles in York last week. Photograph: Richard McDougall

The latest official figures show that the number of cases of coronavirus in York has risen again.

As of today (Saturday, 21 March) there are now eight confirmed cases in the city.

That is a rise of two on the figures from yesterday. It means the number has doubled since Wednesday.

Meanwhile the total in North Yorkshire stands at 16 – two more than reported yesterday (Friday).

Nationally the coronavirus death toll in the UK has reached 233 after NHS England said a further 53 people had died in England after testing positive.

It comes as Fiona Phillips, City of York Council Assistant Director for Public Health, shared some advice for people on maintaining your wellbeing.

York health group closes two doctors’ surgeries

York Medical Group's Monkgate surgery is still open. Photograph: yorkmedicalgroup.co.uk

York Medical Group has updated its working arrangements to adapt to the new circumstances.

It has closed its Water Lane and Woodthorpe surgeries. All doctor’s appointments will be changed to telephone consultations.

All nurse appointments have been cancelled for now. Nurses will contact patients to discuss rebooking appointments.

But it says:

  • If you need same day care our service is still running. Please call as normal and a GP will advise the best course of action.


It is locking the doors at all surgeries – they “will only be opened for those patients that have appointments, this is to keep staff safe so we can keep surgeries working”.

The group asks people not to visit the surgery to drop off a prescription. The advice”

“Please sign up for the NHS App or ring the surgery and verbally sign up for online services via the query lines.

“If you cannot access these services please can you post your prescription to the surgery.”

Full details on the York Medical Group website.

Video: The river’s high but the city centre is fine

Minster FM news editor David Dunning is out and about in York city centre this afternoon.

His video shows that the River Ouse is certainly high but contained. The rest of the city is fine, if a little wet and blustery.

Council workers are shoring up York’s defences

York council workers shoring up York's defences. Photograph: Gwen Swinburn on Twitter

Here are some of the City of York Council frontline team working to make sure York’s defences are ready for Storm Dennis.

The pictures come from Gwen Swinburn on Twitter.

They show Lee, Mark and Dave working on Tower Street on Saturday lunchtime.

Photograph: Gwen Swinburn on Twitter

MP tells national radio ‘York still doesn’t have the flood defences it needs’

York MP takes to the national airways to berate city flood defences

York Central MP Rachael Maskell was on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning talking about the city’s flood defences, four years after the Boxing Day floods.

She told the programme:

  • Four years on, we still don’t have the defences our city needs. That’s unacceptable.

    We haven’t seen the government putting the upper catchment management in place, slowing the flow of the river.

    I have already challenged the government last week after Storm Ciara about their failure to address those areas which flood.

Met Office issues new yellow warning for wind affecting York

The Met Office weather warnings map issued 15 February

The Met Office issued an updated weather alert at 10.19am which affects York.

The update is to the existing yellow weather warning for wind in the area, running from 10am on Sunday and noon on Monday.

It is in addition to the amber warning for rain in our area.

The update reads:

Storm Dennis will bring some very strong winds and transport disruption during Sunday and into Monday morning.

What to expect

  • Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely
  • Probably some bus and train services affected, with some journeys taking longer
  • Delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges likely
  • Some short term loss of power and other services is possible
  • It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities affected by spray and/or large waves

Rail services affected

Here’s the latest from the rail companies in our area:

LNER
Speed restrictions will be in place across the network on both days. As a result, extended journey times, short-notice delays and cancellations are expected.

LNER expect services to be extremely busy throughout the weekend, so they are encouraging customers with LNER tickets dated for travel on Saturday 15th February or Sunday 16th February, to defer travel to Monday 17th February where possible. Please travel as close to the original time as stated on your ticket.

Details of cancelled services can be found here.

Grand Central
A normal service is expected to run this weekend, however some trains may experience delays due to the forecast weather conditions.

Northern
Disruption is expected across much of the Northern rail network this weekend as Storm Dennis is set to arrive on Saturday afternoon. Northern customers are asked to check before travelling and to allow extra time for journeys this weekend. From 17:00 today until 10:00 tomorrow the line between Hebden Bridge and Rochdale will be closed. Customers are advised NOT TO TRAVEL on this route. More here.

TransPennine Express
If you are planning to use the rail network this weekend, we strongly advise that all customers check the status of your service before travelling and be prepared for delays. Full details here.

Current flood warnings and alerts

The two flood warnings in place on the morning of 15 February. Image: Flood Warning Information Service

There are currently two flood warnings and four flood alerts around York.

Flood warnings (flooding is expected – be prepared):

  • River Ouse at Naburn Lock (7.44am): “Further rain associated with Storm Dennis is forecast on Saturday and Sunday 16.2.20 which will cause levels to rise again. Access roads into Naburn are affected. We are closely monitoring the situation and our Area Incident Room is open. Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.”
  • River Ouse at York – riverside properties (7.48am): “Floodgates are closed in York and the Foss Barrier is operational. We are closely monitoring the situation and our Area Incident Room is open. Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.”

Flood alerts (flooding is possible – be prepared):

York City game is OFF

Fans on match day at Bootham Crescent. Photograph: YorkMix

Today’s game at Bootham Crescent has been called off.

York City FC announced on social media this morning that the 3pm fixture with Hereford FC was being postponed due to Storm Dennis.

The decision was taken after the club reviewed league guidance and was taken with “travelling supporters’ and players’ safety in mind”.

It does mean that Bootham Crescent is likely to host one more ‘final’ game under the floodlights.

Here’s some reaction:

The rain is here and atmosphere pressure is dropping

Here we go again…

Pressure is dropping fast and the rain is coming down – Storm Dennis is in town.

We’ll keep updating this blog with news from in and around York.

Here are some weather updates to start us off…

Motorbike caught fire outside house in York

Firefighters were called to a motorbike fire early today (Friday, 14 February).

Crews from York and Acomb were called out at 2.05am to the vehicle outside a house in York.

They extinguished using knapsack sprayers and buckets of water.

Level crossing barrier gets stuck

A level crossing barrier in York got stuck in the down position this morning, causing delays for motorists.

Both the Reliance and First York bus companies reported the problem with Millfield Lane automatic level crossing in Poppleton, at about 8.30am this morning (Tuesday).

It was reopened by 10.20am.

The River Ouse is due to peak early on Tuesday

The River Ouse on Monday. Photograph: Richard McDougall

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.

Graphic: Flood Warning Information Service

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.”

Large tree in Acomb felled by Storm Ciara

The tree down on Acomb Green. Photographs: Gavin Aitchison

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).

Travel disruption continues – trains cancelled, buses diverted

The weather is still causing transport disruption today.

It is causing problems on the trains, with a number of cancellations. Here’s where you can find the latest:


Grand Central says all there services are running, but are likely to be packed:

First York have a diversion on the no 10 route:

But Skeldergate is open, although this may change:

A round-up of the latest news is now live

Bright sunshine on Shambles right now, but it is pretty gusty and more rain is forecast.

On the main news site we have posted an update on the impact of the inclement weather today, which has closed Shambles Market among other places.

It also has links to all the flood warnings for York at the moment.

Sandbags deployed in three York locations as rivers set to rise to the highest levels since the 2015 floods

Photograph © Canislupus / Pixabay

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.

The River Ouse in York tonight. Photograph: Farson Digital Watercams
Councillor Paula Widdowson, executive member for climate change, said:

  • 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.

Flood alert issued for River Foss catchment

Image: Environment Agency

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: