Nottinghamshire has seen 64% of its average January rainfall in just four days due to rising water on the River Trent.
People in some areas have been told to be ready to evacuate as Nottinghamshire Council said river peaks could “come close to the highest levels on record from the year 2000”.
Image: Flooding in Shrewsbury
Image: This house in Worcestershire avoided the water thanks to a 7ft flood defence
Environment Agency data shows almost every river in England is exceptionally high, with some at their highest flow on record, such as the River Itchen in Southampton.
A party boat sank in the Thames in central London, with its owners saying it was likely “because of weather conditions”.
Train journeys are also likely to be affected, with South Western disrupted across its entire network on Friday and major issues on its west of England routes.
Great Western also apologised for “significant disruption” after flooding and a serious incident near Reading “involved police taking control of the line”.
Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said the weekend looks more settled – but it will be getting colder.
Image: A furniture workshop in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
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0:20
A pint in waist-high floodwaters in Worcester
A UKHSA cold weather alert begins at 9am on Saturday until noon on Friday 12 January, with lower than average temperatures forecast in many areas.
It warns of an increase in risks to vulnerable people, with “significant impacts possible” in the health and social care sector.
Frosts are also set to be more widespread and ice “likely [to] be an issue for many”.
The Met Office said the cold snap would be caused by high pressure building over the UK into the next week.
Image: Tewkesbury is seeing its worst flooding since 2007
Eyewitness: Fears for vulnerable as flooding hits town
Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire is no stranger to floods – especially the residents of Abbey Terrace.
Properties all have pumps in their cellars and floodgates in their gardens.
But as firefighters evacuated vulnerable people from their homes, locals on the road told Sky News this is the worst they’ve seen it since 2007.
The Veal family were loading up possessions into a kayak.
Simon, a father, said: “We’re going to evacuate. The ground floor is no longer tenable. The sewerage system doesn’t work, it won’t be long before the water is polluted as well, the power will go out.
“The floors will have to come out. The plaster up to a metre will come off the walls, damaged furniture, the fridge, freezer, cooker, washing machine, tumble dryer. It’s everything.”
John and his wife Marion were being evacuated in a boat by Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service.
“It’s worse than 2007,” John told me. “That was in the middle of summer, it was not as cold. That’ll be a problem for vulnerable people.”
The highest rain totals on Thursday were 44mm (1.57 inches) at Otterbourne in Hampshire, with 20mm to 30mm (0.78 – 1.18 inches) across many southern counties.
It came days after strong wind and rain from Storm Henkleft ground saturated and more prone to flooding.
Late on Thursday, 10 fire engines and about 70 firefighters were called to a big flood in east London.
About 50 people were evacuated after a canal burst its banks in Hackney Wick, with 10 acres – roughly the size of eight football pitches – affected.
Image: About 50 people were evacuated in Hackney, east London
Image: Flooding in Hackney Wick. Pic: @LondonFire
Other key developments: • Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire has worst flooding since 2007 • Cows drown in flooded field in Derbyshire • Police referred to watchdog after woman dies hitting fallen tree • People stranded in their homes in Shrewsbury
Image: A view of Worcester city centre, flooded by the River Severn
Image: Flooding around the River Arun in Pulborough, West Sussex
Landlord in tears at ‘evil’ floods
Several residents of Radcliffe Residential Park, an estate of static caravans to the east of Nottingham, had to be evacuated due to high water levels.
Laurie Walker, chairman of the residents’ association, said: “I’ve had someone knock on my door to say the water is going to rise another 25cm.
Image: A community of static caravans was flooded in Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
“Outside their front doors, it’s like a river, I don’t know if the homes have been flooded.
“To come out of the park I’ve had to walk through somebody else’s garden to avoid the flood on the road. It’s the worst it’s ever been, I’ve been here seven years. It’s a mess.”
Image: Loughborough, Leicestershire
Image: A flooded house in Loughborough
Parts of Worcestershire, the West Midlands, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and West Sussex have also been flooded.
Mario Thomas, 65, landlord of The Boat Inn in Jackfield, Shropshire, said he broke down in tears after “evil” floodwaters devastated his pub.
He said the water was up to his chest.
Image: The Boat Inn’s landlord said he was in tears
Meanwhile, Thames Valley Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over the death of an 87-year-old woman in Oxfordshire who crashed into a tree.
The force said it received a report about the tree around 90 minutes before the collision.
The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased “significantly” since 2022, according to a new report by parliament’s intelligence watchdog.
Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
It also said Iran’s intelligence services were “willing and able – often through third party agents – to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK”.
Image: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pic: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 and August 2023.
Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.
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2:30
Millions of Iranians unite in mourning
The report authors add: “Whilst Iran’s activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially – unpredictable.”
The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.
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The report warns that while Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, it has taken steps towards that goal.
It found that Iran had been “broadly compliant” with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.
But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran “had the capability to arm in a relatively short period”.
The UK government is also accused of “fire-fighting” rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.
Image: Iran’s president oversees a parade in Tehran in April showing off the country’s military hardware. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
Image: Missiles are paraded through the capital during the recent National Army Day ceremony. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report says: “The government’s policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.
“As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: ‘Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran’.”
The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions “remain relevant”.
But the report authors questioned whether UK sanctions against individuals would “in practice deliver behavioural change. Or in fact unhelpfully push Iran towards China”.
The committee also said the British government should consider proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), although some argue it would limit the UK’s ability to talk to and influence Iran.
Responding to the report, a UK government spokesperson said: “The government will take action wherever necessary to protect national security, which is a foundation of our plan for change.
“We have already placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme and introduced further sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Iran, bringing the total number of sanctions to 450.”
British security services say Tehran uses criminal proxies to carry out its work in Britain.
In December, two Romanians were charged after a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London was stabbed in the leg. In May, three Iranian men appeared in court charged with assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists.
Earlier this year, the UK government said it would require the Iranian state to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, because of what it called increasingly aggressive activity.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.
And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.
There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.
Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.
Image: Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat
The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.
A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.
Image: Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene
As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.
Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.
Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.
The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.
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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.
We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.
They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.
In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.