Storm Chandra latest: Fears further heavy rainfall could bring worst flooding in more than a decade

Storm Chandra has brought weather chaos this week with strong winds, heavy rain and snowbattering much of the UK, with the Met Office issuing further yellow warnings to Friday.

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The Met Office advises following these siz simple steps to protect your home or business:

1. Check the flood advice in your area to know when and where flooding will happen
2. Charge mobile phone devices
3. Park your car outside the flood zone
4. Prepare a flood kit to help you cope in the event of flooding to your home and business
5. Store valuables up high, including electrical devices, important documents and furniture
6. Turn off gas water and electricity supplies

Fog and low cloud is expected overnight, which could cause some difficult travel conditions.

RAC and National Highways have partnered with Met Office to share five tips for driving in fog:

1. Make sure you’re familiar with how to operate your front and rear fog lights

2. Do not use full beam lights, as the fog reflects the light back, reducing visibility even further

3. Follow the ‘two-second rule’ or even increase the gap to four seconds

4. Ensure the heater is set to windscreen de-misting and open all the vents

5. If visibility is very limited, wind down your windows at junction and crossroads

A married couple based in Antrim had to be rescued from their house by boat after flood water rose to almost waist-high.

David Leatherman and Jim Cunningham have since spoken about their frustrations in how the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) has handled the damage caused to their home by Storm Chandra.

Jim Cunningham told ITVX that the couple were "psychologically destroyed" by the damage to their house.

Speaking of the disaster Mr Leatherman said: "I came home and the water just was rising, and by 4PM, it was right up to our waists”, as reported by ITVX.

Mr Leatherman phoned the DFI and was told he would be put on a list. He then spotted two DFI staff walking up the street as the flood reached the telegraph pole there and asked them what they were planning to do about it.

The staff responded that they were trying to contact their boss but haven’t been able to get through to him and would come back in half and hour but they next showed up, according to Mr Leatherman.

Minister for Infrastructure (DfI) Liz Kimmins MLA met with the two men who were pulled to safety. She said to ITVX: "What happened yesterday in Riverside was "devastating" to all those who were impacted." She explained that the department received thousands of calls on Tuesday alone.

She added: “Our staff are working day and night, and we're trying to stretch our resources as far as possible, including deploying staff from different business areas within the department to try and support that.

"The pressure that we were feeling right across the north yesterday was really, really felt. Everyone was stretched trying to deal with what was coming at us from all different angles. That's not an excuse, I suppose it's just to say that's the reality of what we are dealing with on a very regular basis, and we have to make sure that we're targeting resources properly."

New weather warnings for rain have been issued in Ireland, as communities hit by heavy flooding earlier in the week assess the damage.

Met Eireann has issued a Status Yellow rain warning for counties Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, and Waterford which will be in effect all day Thursday.

A Yellow-level rain warning has also been issued by the Met Office for Northern Ireland, from midnight until 6pm on Friday.

Minister for Housing and Local Government James Browne said that information should not be “guarded” and he had asked Met Eireann to look at how they assess what level of weather warning is warranted.

He told South East Radio’s Morning Mix that Met Eireann needed to improve communications and said he was “really frustrated that some state agencies seem to think that it’s their duty to somehow withhold information”.

“We will be bringing Met Eireann in and say that, look, there needs to be an understanding here that information is not to be guarded, information is to be put out there and we need to do a much better job at communications,” he said.

“Also what we’ve asked Met Eireann to do is to look at how they bring these warnings – yellow, orange, red warnings – it’s based on a mathematical formula whereas in other countries they use the mathematical formula, but then they also make a judgment call and I there needs to be a greater use of that judgment call as well, I think in terms of being able to warn people of what is coming down the line.”

Labour’s climate spokesperson Ciaran Ahern responded to Mr Browne’s comments saying they were “extraordinary” and “ridiculous”.

“At a time when many areas across the country are flooding due to this Government’s failure to fund flooding defence systems that have been called for for years, this blatant attempt to distract and deflect must be called out,” he said.

“Storm Chandra must be a wake-up call for all of us but particularly those with a seat at the Cabinet table.”

Rivers burst their banks, including the Slaney in Co Wexford and the Dodder in Dublin, with fallen trees reported across the island.

Travel misery is set to continue for days for people in southwest England – with transport chaos continuing around the rest of the UK.

Following on from Storm Chandra, the Met Office has issued a Yellow weather warning for rain across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and into Somerset and Wiltshire.

The Independent’s Travel correspondent, Simon Calder, reports:

Several roads have been closed in Somerset due to flooding:

• Devon - M5 - One lane closed and slow traffic due to emergency repairs and flooding on M5 Southbound from J28 A373 Honiton Road (Cullompton / Service Area) to J29 A30 Honiton Road (Exeter / Honiton).
• Podimore - A303 - One lane closed due to flooding on A303 Westbound from A37 (Podimore Roundabout, Podimore) to A3088 (Cartgate Roundabout, Stoke Sub Hamdon). Traffic is coping well.
• Burrowbridge - A361 New Road - A361 New Road both ways closed due to flooding between Stathe Road (Burrowbridge) and Cuts Road (East Lyng).