UK weather: Report of woman swept into River Don as widespread flooding hits Scotland
A woman has been reportedly swept into the River Don in Aberdeenshire as widespread flooding hit Scotland, police have said.
Police and emergency crews are on the scene where it is believed the person may have been trying to rescue a dog.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3.05pm on Friday, 18 November, police were called to the River Don near to Monymusk following a report of concern for a woman in the water.
“Police and Emergency Services attended and searches were carried out. Following assessments of the river conditions, the search has been stood down for the evening. Police inquiries are ongoing.”
Scotland has been battered with rain and flooding, with rest centres opening in some parts of Aberdeenshire after flood warnings were escalated to severe on Friday.
The northeast of the country has been hammered by the bad weather with the local council warning residents to take steps to protect their properties.
Road maps of closures due to floods have been circulated and rest centres will open in Ballater, Aboyne, Inverurie and Kemnay for those needing help and who are unable to stay in their homes.
Aberdeenshire Council warned that river levels will peak later on Friday, with sandbag points set up in the region to protect from floodwaters.
Power cuts are also affecting Inverurie, Kintore, Stonehaven, Portlethen and Hatton of Fintray, with reports of broadband also being down.
There was also localised flooding in some parts of Edinburgh, with pictures showing the Crewe Toll roundabout in the west of the city completely submerged.
The Met Office has said more than a month’s worth of rain had fallen in Charr, Aberdeenshire overnight with the total recorded as 140mm.
Train journeys across much of eastern Scotland have also been disrupted.
Forecasters have issued an amber rain warning for an area of northeast Scotland stretching from just north of Dundee up past Aberdeen until 9pm on Friday.
Meanwhile a yellow rain warning is also in place along the Scottish east coast from the English border up to Peterhead until 6pm on Friday.
It comes after a band of rain hit the coast of southwest England on Wednesday evening before travelling northeast over two days, causing flooding in many areas of the UK.
As of Friday morning, the Environment Agency has 11 flood warnings and 81 flood alerts in place and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued 26 warnings and nine alerts.
South of the border in northeast England, hundreds of people were left stranded at Newcastle rail station due to the cancelled services heading north to Scotland.
Huge queues for replacement buses were seen and passengers had been told they may have to wait up to five hours to board.
Queues for the bus services stretched hundreds of metres down the street outside the city centre station and spiralled around the concourse inside.
Hundreds of rail passengers queue outside Newcastle train station for replacement buses
Queues stretched hundreds of metres down the street outside the station and spiralled around the concourse inside
One woman heading for Edinburgh said: “This just can’t be happening. I’ve got a health condition and I can’t wait outside like this.”
James Brownhill, from London, said: “It’s just chaos. But there’s nothing you can do. If it’s flooded, it’s flooded.
“I think I’m just going to have to stay in Newcastle tonight.”
Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon warned that areas of Scotland could see homes and businesses flooding even as the rain eases later on Friday, while gusts could blow in excess of 50 knots.
He said: “Rain should ease later in the day but because of the delayed reaction of rivers to rain, some flooding events could still happen.
“There will be persistent and widespread rain for most of Scotland today as well.”
Yesterday flooding was seen further south with motorists warned to stay off the roads in Leicestershire
He also said temperatures are expected to drop, going as low as -4C in Northern Ireland, adding: “Fairly widespread frost is possible for much of the UK.”
While Saturday will be clear, Sunday sees another front of rain and heavy wind moving in from the west bringing the chance of thunder and lightning, Mr Dixon said.
“That sets up what is really the theme of the next week which is continued wet and windy weather for much of the UK,” he added.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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The family of pop star Liam Payne has criticised the media for causing “indescribable, lasting damage” in the wake of his death.
The singer, 31, died in October last year, after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
He was honoured with a video montage, played at Saturday night’s BRIT awards, celebrating his legacy – with clips including his time on X-Factor and during his time with One Direction. The band won seven BRIT awards before they split in 2016.
In a statement, released to the media after the tribute was played, his family called the death an “unspeakable tragedy”.
The family also criticised the “attention and speculation” in the press that caused “indescribable, lasting damage on the family, particularly on Liam’s son, who is trying to process emotions which no seven-year-old should have to experience”.
It said the family accepted the Court of Appeal’s decision to drop all charges in relation to Payne’s death.
One Direction pictured at the 2014 Brit Awards – the band won seven gongs during their time together. Pic: PA
One Direction, pictured in 2011. Pic: AP
Charges were dropped against three defendants: Payne’s friend Roger Nores, who had accompanied him during his trip to Buenos Aires; Gilda Martin, the manager of the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel where Payne died; and Esteban Grassi, the hotel’s main receptionist.
Two others are still facing prosecution for allegedly supplying Payne with drugs. Supplying drugs in Argentina carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Toxicology tests revealed that before his death, he had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body. A postmortem ruled his cause of death as “polytrauma” from multiple injuries and internal and external bleeding.
‘Beautiful’ Brits tribute
After the video aired, Payne’s former band member Louis Tomlinson thanked the BRIT Awards and said: “Beautiful tribute. Miss you always, brother x.”
Awards host Jack Whitehall introduced the tribute to the singer and said: “He achieved so much in the short time that he was on this earth, and was not only a supremely gifted musician but an incredibly kind soul who touched the lives of everyone he came into contact with.
Themed tributes for singer Liam Payne were seen outside St. Mary’s Church on the day of his funeral.
Pic: Reuters
Fans sing One Direction around a candle-lit tribute for Liam Payne
“We have so many amazing memories with Liam here at The BRITs. So, tonight we celebrate his legacy and look back and remember, the remarkable Liam Payne.”
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