A lorry driver and his passenger were among those rescued from their vehicles as the River Nith in Dumfries in Scotland burst its banks on Wednesday (30 December), after heavy rain and gales from Storm Frank battered northern parts of the UK.

Separately, 12 people were rescued from a bus that became trapped in floodwaters in nearby Ayrshire, both in south-west Scotland.

Ten people were rescued by a Royal Navy helicopter and two were helped off the bus by a police marine unit. Those airlifted from the partially-submerged bus near a village in south Ayrshire were then taken to a community centre for medical checks.

Power has been cut to thousands of homes, forcing some to evacuate flooded streets in the third major storm in a month. The Environment Agency said Britain had faced an extraordinary period of severe weather and flooding in December, with consultants PwC warning that the latest deluge from Storm Frank could take total losses above £3bn.

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