Edwina Hannaford
The house in Looe, Cornwall, collapsed in the early hours of the morning (Edwina Hannaford/Twitter)

A woman from Cornwall is missing following a landslide caused by heavy rain in the south west of the UK.

Susan Norman, who is in her 60s, has not been seen or heard from since her house partially collapsed in the landslide.

Dozens of people in the area were evacuated following the landslide. Police say Norman may be trapped inside the debris of the house in Looe and they have a sniffer dog helping with the search effort.

Graham Claybourn, Devon and Cornwall Police duty inspector, said: "At around 5.45am this morning, Friday 22nd March, emergency services attended Sandplace Road in Looe following a report of a house collapse.

"A building comprising of flats has partially collapsed following a landslide at the rear of the property.

"Approximately six other properties in the street have been evacuated as a precaution and the Guildhall is being used as a temporary shelter. Road closures include the B3253 and the A387 and diversions are in place at this time

"The property and adjoining properties were evacuated this morning, everybody was accounted for. However, one lady has not been accounted for. She lives in the ground flat.

"We're waiting for a geothermal engineer from the council to come down and assess the scene. There was some building work going on (in the area) at the time."

Police said fire and rescue teams are waiting for engineers to work out whether the building is safe to enter.

More rain forecast

Neighbours said they heard the "windows popping" at the property before it collapsed.

The south west experienced flooding overnight and the Environment Agency has issued further flood warnings.

A landslide at Shaldon left a large portion of the A379 closed, while another road partially collapsed in Ashburton. More rain is predicted to fall by the end of the day in the south west.

The Met Office's chief forecaster said: "Frontal bands pushing northeastwards during the latter part of Thursday and during Friday will find their progress slowed up by a blocking area of high pressure located northeast of the United Kingdom.

"This will result in the associated rain-bearing systems becoming slow-moving over southwestern parts of England and Wales leading to heavy and, at times, prolonged rainfall.

"Forty to 60mm is expected to fall widely over southern parts of both Cornwall and Devon by the end of Friday with the potential for in excess of 100mm to fall over exposed southern and southeastern upslopes.

"Southeasterly winds will also increase to reach gale force around exposed coasts and also over high ground."

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