York is taking action ahead of Storm Isha as floods are expected to follow the gale force winds.
City of York Council said this afternoon: “We’re expecting rising river levels as a result of Storm Isha, and melting snow further up the catchment area.
“Some car parks, parks and riverside paths are likely to be affected.
“We’re taking early action and York remains open for business.”
So far, only Rowntree Park and its car park are closed.
A flood alert has been issued for York. It is for the Upper River Ouse. “This alert has been issued as river levels on the River Ouse are expected to rise due to rainfall associated with Storm Isha,” the alert says.
“Areas most at risk include riverside footpaths and low-lying land in York and to the south as far as Naburn Lock, including King’s Staith, Queen’s Staith and South Esplanade.
“Rainfall is forecast over Sunday and overnight into Monday. Please avoid using low-lying footpaths near local watercourses and do not walk or drive through floodwater.”
There are also flood alerts in place for the Lower River Nidd catchment, the Lower River Swale, the Lower River Ure, the Lower River Wharfe and the Upper River Wharfe.
At 3.45pm, the River Ouse at the Viking recorder had reached 1.07m. Although below the top of the normal range at 1.9m, the river is forecast to rise rapidly, reaching 4.45m by 3.45am on Tuesday.
These are the weather warnings in place for York and North Yorkshire:
- Amber warning for wind – starts today (Sunday) at 6pm and runs till tomorrow at 6am
- Yellow warning for wind – starts today at 12pm and runs till tomorrow at 12pm
- Yellow warning for wind – starts Tuesday at 4pm, ends Wednesday at 12pm.
Network Rail said 50mph speed restrictions have been imposed across most routes to keep passengers and trains safe from falling trees and debris blown onto tracks, with disruption likely to continue into Monday morning.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “We’re expecting widespread gales to affect the UK, amber warnings are in place for large parts of the country.
“There’s the potential for danger-to-life and damaging winds potentially leading to some power cuts in places, some large waves around coastal regions could bring some debris onto roads and trees could come down.”
He added: “We have a wind warning in place across the whole of the UK, it’s pretty unusual for the whole of the country to be under a blanket wind warning.”