Northern England is braced for further disruption after Storm Frank brought gales and heavy rain to western parts of England and Scotland last night.

Communities in the north have been warned to prepare for more flooding between Wednesday (30th December) and New Year’s Day, as more rainfall is expected to cause disruption, due to sodden ground conditions and extremely high river levels.

On Wednesday morning, there were three severe flood warnings (indicating a danger to life) active in North-west England, with a number of less severe flood warnings (requiring immediate action) in the North East. The three severe warnings, along the River Yarrow, have been in force since 27th December.

Speaking late on Tuesday, Dan Suri, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said, “We… have already issued National Severe Weather Warnings for gales and heavy rain associated with Storm Frank. Everyone should be aware of the potential for disruption in places from further flooding… especially in areas such as Cumbria and southern and central areas of Scotland where Amber 'be prepared' warnings for rain are in place.

"The weather is particularly unsettled at the moment and we advise everyone to stay up to date with the latest Met Office forecasts and warnings and find out what to do in severe weather so they can plan ahead for the expected weather before it arrives."

Impacts of the third severe storm to hit the UK this month include a bridge collapse in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire and damage on a dairy farm near Stirling, where a tree collapsed into a barn, though the cows inside were unhurt.

Meanwhile, the Country Land and Business Association has become the latest group to call for further discussion of responses to flooding and preparedness. CLA President Ross Murray said in a statement on Tuesday that the Landowners’ organisation’s thoughts are with those affected by flooding, and the Association is committed to playing a part in any discussions about land management and flood resilience.

Mr Murray said, “It is vitally important that we reflect on the experience of the past few weeks and learn the lessons with regard to the way we are investing in flood mitigation and defence. We welcome the Ministers commitment for wide ranging review of our flood resilience and we are committed to playing a full part.”

On Monday it was revealed that December rainfall broke records in parts of the country; more than an entire month’s worth of rain fell in one 48 hour period in Honister in the Lake District during Storm Desmond, which hit at the beginning of the month.  

Amongst the new records set in December were Shap and Keswick in Cumbria, which shattered old records of 504.4mm (2006) and 376.4mm (2013) respectively, receiving 773.2mm and 517.6mm of rain in December 2015. Capel Curig in Conwy also weathered over a meter of rain in December, with the new record of 1012.2mm overtaking the previous record of 612.8mm set in 2006.