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.
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.
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.
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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.”
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”.
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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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Anthony Joshua missed out on the chance to become a three-time heavyweight world champion after he was stopped by British rival Daniel Dubois in the fifth round.
Dubois, 27, knocked down Joshua towards the end of the opening round with an overhand right to the 34-year-old’s chin.
The IBF heavyweight champion then dropped Joshua at the end of round three and twice in the fourth.
A right hook ended the fight with a knockout for Dubois’ first defence of the title.
The fighters went toe to toe at London’s Wembley Stadium in front of a record 96,000 fans.
‘We came up short’
Minutes after retaining the IBF championship, Dubois shouted to the crowd “are you not entertained?” before saying: “I’m a gladiator, you know?
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“I’m just a warrior to the bitter end. I’m just ready to go. I want to go to the top level of this game and reach my potential. God bless you all.”
Joshua said the loss would not stop him from rebuilding despite admitting “we came up short”.
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“You know I’m ready to kick off in the ring, but I’m going to keep my cool, keep very professional, and give respect to my opponent,” he said.
“I’m always saying to myself I’m a fighter for life… We keep rolling the dice. I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent and a lot of mistakes from my end, but that’s the game.”
Dubois’ victory has sent a message to the whole heavyweight division
Daniel Dubois will feel like he has fulfilled his destiny here at Wembley. His father has trained him to be a champion boxer since he was tiny.
He held the IBF belt, but he has gone in there tonight and defended it in spectacular fashion – he is now in every conversation going forward.
What now for AJ? Can he face rebuilding? And will he even want to?
The Wembley ring walk is notoriously long, and Dubois looked nervous – but so did Joshua, who has done this many times before in front of a full house.
Perhaps he was thinking of what was at stake – the chance to be a three-time heavyweight champion of the world.
But 27-year-old Dubois holds the belt and was keen to prove he was a worthy champion quickly.
Many wondered if Dubois would freeze on the biggest stage: Question asked and answered emphatically.
It was a crushing defeat for Joshua – most were not expecting such a one-sided victory.
Dubois will now most likely take on the winner of Fury v Usyk 2 for all the belts. But the manner of his victory has sent a message to the whole heavyweight division.
Hearn: AJ will want rematch
Promoter Eddie Hearn then said “it was the first round” where Joshua lost, “after that he was fighting on heart and desire”.
Hearn added: “When you are in there with a massive puncher this is what can happen. He never stopped trying to get up, even when he couldn’t get up.
“Daniel deserves credit, he’s a real world champion. Congratulations to him… I’m sure [Joshua will] exercise that rematch clause, it’s a given, it’s a dangerous fight because he’s growing in confidence all the time but he’ll believe he can beat him.”
British champion Dubois, who before tonight had never fought at Wembley, was elevated to the IBF title holder after Oleksandr Usyk relinquished the belt.
Joshua outweighed Dubois by four pounds, despite a career-heaviest weight for his rival, ahead of the fight.
Among those watching was Tyson Fury, the former WBC heavyweight champion, who took a ringside seat.
Fury is set to fight Usyk for the other three titles in a rematch on 21 December.
Ahead of the fight, Liam Gallagher played some of Oasis’ biggest hits to the sold-out crowd.
The 52-year-old frontman walked on to a massive cheer and said “yes Wembley vibes in the air,” before launching into Rock ‘N’ Roll Star, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alcohol.
He and Noel Gallagher will play Wembley for their first of seven reunion shows at the stadium on 25 July – 307 days away.
Other famous faces ringside were Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor, former boxer Ricky Hatton, Spice Girl Emma Bunton and Love Island presenter Maya Jama.
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 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.
“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.
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.”
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 saidit 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.
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.”
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.
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“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.”
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.
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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.