UK weather: Storm Babet batters large parts of country – as second person confirmed dead in Scotland
A second person has died as Storm Babet batters large parts of the UK.
Police Scotland said a 56-year-old driver was killed after a tree struck a van on the B9127 at Whigstreet near Forfar at around 5.05pm on Thursday.
It comes as a rare red weather alert issued by the Met Office, warning of a “danger to life from fast flowing or deep floodwater” in parts of Scotland, was extended until midnight on Saturday.
It now covers the Grampian and Central, Tayside and Fife regions. It had already been expanded to include Dundee, Perth and Kinross, as well as Angus and Aberdeenshire, where 20ft waves have been spotted on the coastline.
Storm Babet latest: ‘Serious emergency’ declared by Scottish council
Meanwhile, a major search was under way following reports of a man trapped in a vehicle in floodwater.
Police Scotland said the alarm was raised at 3am on Friday near the village of Marykirk in Aberdeenshire.
“Multi-agency searches are ongoing and the public are asked to avoid the area for their safety,” a force spokesperson said.
As England, Wales and Northern Ireland faced warnings about heavy rain, Scotland continued to bear the brunt, where emergency crews have also been trying to rescue people in Brechin.
The town has been the hardest hit by the unprecedented flooding – and there are fears people who have had to flee their homes may not be able to re-enter until after Christmas.
Waves at Stonehaven Harbour
The Met Office said some communities could be cut off for several days at least by severe flooding, while the British Geological Survey has warned the storm could also cause landslides in Scotland.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has five severe flood warnings, 11 flood alerts and 16 flood warnings in place, with the threat of “unprecedented” levels of rainfall in the northeast of Scotland.
It has warned rivers could rise by as much as five metres, in what has been described as an “extraordinary” weather event.
SEPA flood duty manager Pascal Lardet said: “There is exceptional rainfall forecast for parts of Scotland over the next 24 hours, and this will lead to significant flooding from both surface water and rivers.”
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Bridge submerged in Scotland
‘People may not be back in their homes by Christmas’
It comes after a woman died in Scotland when she was swept into a river amid gale-force winds and severe flooding.
The body of the 57-year-old has been recovered after she was swept into the Water of Lee, a river in the eastern area of Angus on Thursday.
Officials have ordered the evacuation of 400 homes in and around the town of Brechin where flood defences breached.
Angus Council, which serves the town near the eastern Scottish coast, said parts of Brechin are only accessible by boat and added: “Angus is in the middle of a very serious emergency. Flooding is unprecedented. Levels are over half a metre over the last highest ever.”
This image shows a road before the River Esk burst its banks in Brechin – with the photo below showing the impact of the flooding
It said schools would be shut on Friday to “ensure the safety of children, young people, parents, and school staff”.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “I cannot stress how dangerous conditions are in Brechin in particular.”
Brechin councillor Jill Scott said: “It’s horrific. It’s just absolutely horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She added people had been trapped for hours, warning: “There will be hundreds of houses flooded.”
Another Brechin councillor, Gavin Nicol, warned some people may not be able to get back in their homes by Christmas, adding: “It’s just a disaster. The water is not going down, it is still rising.”
Officials have also appealed for donations of warm clothes after 40 people turned up to rest centres while “soaked”.
Warnings have ‘come to fruition’
Around 20,000 properties were hit by power cuts, although Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said electricity had been restored to almost 18,500 homes.
Angus experienced the highest rainfall in the UK on Thursday, according to data from SEPA. The Met Office revealed that Waterside Perth in East Grampian recorded 164mm over the previous 24 hours, followed by Invermark – which had 153mm.
Rescue operations are under way in Brechin
“Torrential and ferocious” conditions have led to “12 hours of destruction”, said Sky’s Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies.
Flood defences of the River Esk in Brechin have been “completely and utterly submerged”, he said.
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Storm Babet causes sea of foam
The warnings have “come to fruition” and “lives are at risk still” for several more hours, said Gillies.
“Many people will now be picking up the pieces after a really dangerous set of circumstances,” he said.
Traffic Scotland said several sections of major Scottish roads are closed too, including the A85 at Huntingtower near Perth and A90 between Myrekirk and Swallow Roundabouts due to flooding.
Aberdeenshire Council said supplies of sandbags had been “depleted” and would not be replenished. It urged residents not to travel unless it was “absolutely essential”.
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Babet: Waves batter lighthouse
‘Extraordinary’ weather event
More disruption is expected elsewhere across the UK, with amber warnings for wind and rain issued for parts of northern England, the Midlands and northern Wales from noon on Friday to 6am on Saturday.
The Environment Agency has issued 42 flood warnings – in areas where flooding is expected – and 142 flood alerts, where flooding is possible.
Heron Rise in Dundee
Yellow and amber wind warnings have been issued for eastern parts of Scotland and along the east coast of England until the weekend, the Met Office said.
Gusts in excess of 60mph are likely on Friday, with particularly poor conditions on immediate coastlines with large waves adding to the list of hazards.
In the north east of England, South Shields Lighthouse lost its dome in the storm, as huge waves battered the structure.
This image shows South Shields lighthouse before it lost its dome in the storm – and the photo below shows the impact of the waves
The Port of Tyne authority said with the ongoing dangerous sea conditions, it was not safe to assess the damage to the lighthouse.
People have been urged to steer clear of the area, particularly the piers.
No traffic is going in and out of the river with six metres of sea swell, officials added.
Flooding has also blocked several rail lines across northern England, the Midlands and north Wales.
Red, amber and yellow weather warnings are in place for rain and wind. Pic: Met Office
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A yellow warning for Northern Ireland is also in place from 3am on Friday to 9am on Saturday.
Members of the Irish Defence Forces were deployed in the town of Midleton, Co Cork, in the south of Ireland, where more than 100 properties were flooded.
Cork County Council said more than a month’s worth of rain had fallen in the space of 24 hours, leading to unprecedented flooding, saturated land and high river levels across the county.
The storm is an “extraordinary” weather event created by a number of interacting conditions, said Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.
The jet stream has been squeezed into a “weird position”, partly due to a typhoon that hit Japan last week, she said.
UK
Mohamed al Fayed: Former royal security head says he warned Royal Family before Diana went on holiday with businessman
The former head of royal protection says he warned the Royal Family about Mohamed al Fayed’s reputation before Princess Diana took her sons on holiday with him.
The former Harrods owner, who died last year at the age of 94, was described as a “monster” earlier this week by lawyers representing 37 alleged sexual abuse victims.
The women say he raped and sexually assaulted them while they worked at the luxury department store, prowling the shop floor and “cherry-picking” women to be brought to his executive suite.
Now, Mr Davies says people were aware of the Egyptian businessman’s reputation as far back as the 1990s, and that he raised concerns about him to the Royal Family.
Princess Diana on the quay of the residence of Mohamed al Fayed in Saint Tropez on 20 July 1997. File pic: AP
“This was a man who I would be concerned [about] if a relative of mine was going on holiday with him, let alone the future king and his brother and their mother, Princess Diana,” Dai Davies told Sky News.
Mohamed al Fayed during a match at Craven Cottage stadium in 2013: File pic: PA
In July 1997, a month before she died, Princess Diana went on holiday with Fayed and his wife to their residence in St Tropez.
She took the two young princes with her – a holiday Prince Harry described as “heaven” in his 2023 memoir Spare.
“I was horrified because I was aware of some of the allegations even then that were going around,” said Mr Davies.
“I was aware that he had tried very hard to ingratiate himself with the Royal Family and obviously knowing, as I did, the reputation he was alleged [to have] then, I was concerned, and I took the opportunity to inform the Royal Family.”
Princess Diana, Prince William (right) and Prince Harry (left) in Saint Tropez on 14 July 1997. File pic: AP
Mr Davies says he was told: “Her Majesty is aware.”
“The rest is history,” he said.
Buckingham Palace told Sky News it had no comment on the allegations.
Fulham ‘deeply disturbed’ by allegations
Fulham FC, a football club that was owned by Fayed between 1997 and 2013, has said it is “deeply troubled” by the dozens of “disturbing” sexual abuse allegations against the businessman.
The Premier League club also said it is “in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or has been affected” by this alleged behaviour.
Mohamed al Fayed waves a Fulham scarf in front of supporters in 2012. Pic: Reuters
However, Gaute Haugenes, who managed the club’s women’s team between 2001 and 2003, told the BBC extra precautions were taken to protect female players from Fayed.
“We were aware he liked young, blonde girls. So we just made sure that situations couldn’t occur. We protected the players.”
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‘The door was locked behind me’
A former Harrods employee told Sky News she was summoned to Fayed’s apartment when she began working for the department store at 19 years old.
She was told the meeting was a “job review” before “the door was locked behind me”.
“I saw his bedroom door partially open – there were sex toys on view,” she said.
“I felt petrified. I perched myself at the very end of the sofa and then… my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me.”
Read more: ‘One of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation’
Harrods said in a statement on Thursday it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse and apologised to Fayed’s alleged victims.
The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward if they have allegations.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The legal team involved in a civil claim against Harrods for allegedly failing to provide a safe system of work for its employees said they aimed to seek justice for the victims of a “vast web of abuse”.
Lily Allen says she had her children “for all the wrong reasons,” at a “high pressure” point in her career when she felt “overwhelmed”.
The singer and actress had her two daughters, Marnie, 12 and Ethel, 11, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper when she was in her mid-20s.
By the time she became a mum, she’d already had hit singles including Smile and The Fear, released two studio albums and received a Brit Award for best British female solo artist.
Speaking about motherhood on the BBC podcast Miss Me?, which Allen hosts with her long-time friend Miquita Oliver, she said: “I think I had children for all the wrong reasons, really.
“Because I was yearning for unconditional love, which I haven’t felt in my life since I was a child.”
The now 39-year-old star added: “And also, my career was at such high speed, high pressure, and I felt like very overwhelmed by what was happening. I just didn’t get much respite you know?
“And I felt like the only way to stop people hassling me was to say, ‘It’s not about me, actually this is about this other person that’s inside me’.
When asked by Oliver if it worked, Allen says: “Yeah, they did leave me alone. I don’t think I really understood what was happening, what I got myself into.”
The daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, she went on to discuss her own childhood.
“My mum, bless her, had children really early as well, and she really struggled. But she doesn’t really talk about the struggle. And so… She inadvertently gaslit me into thinking it was, you know, easy.
“You just sort of throw the kid over your shoulder and you get on with it.
“Her job was very static, and in one place and went to an office and mine wasn’t like that at all. It wasn’t easy. It just wasn’t easy.”
Allen is married to Stranger Things star David Harbour
The ‘nasty scars’ caused by absent parents
Allen previously told the Radio Times podcast that while she loves her children, having them “ruined her career”.
She said her decision to prioritise them over her pop career was a decision she made so as not to inflict the “nasty scars” of being an “absent” parent onto them.
She also said the myth of having it all “really annoyed” as it simply was not true.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Allen, whose younger brother is Game Of Thrones actor Alfie Allen, married Stranger Things star David Harbour in 2020.
Away from her music career, Allen has branched out into acting over the last few years, starring in two plays in London’s West End, and winning a role in Sky drama Dreamland last year.
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