UK Weather: worst September storms in 30 years
The North East of England has been bearing the brunt of what the Met Office has been called the worst September flooding in thirty years. Hundreds of people around the areas of Morpeth, Rothbury, Newburn, Sunderland and County Durham have had to leave their homes and spend the night in temporary shelters after two days of torrential rain in the area. A month's worth of rain fell in just 24 hours in some areas leaving chaos in its wake.
Gateshead was no exception: with river levels rising – many of them bursting their banks - only to cause chaos on the roads and leave drivers to make the tricky decision about whether their journey was absolutely necessary given the sheer number of waterlogged routes. Those who did venture out, faced an arduous task of getting scraping by slowly - all the while trying to ensure that their engines didn't get overwhelmed with flood water. And there were many who didn't quite get away with it, countless cars were left stranded in roads and lay-bys across the North East region.
The bad news is – there's more of this sort of weather to come! There are now more than 75 flood alerts in place across the country and The Met Office has warned that the heavy and persistent rain (up to 100mm, almost four inches of it) and strong winds expected to return to some southern parts later today and tomorrow.
Written and Presented by Marverine Cole