Storm Babet - Extreme rainfall NE Scotland and widely elsewhere*

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2023-10-19

An unusually early warning for the low possibility of some extreme rainfall for NE Scotland at the end of the week. Note the text of the warning!

Please keep a close eye on this one and be prepared to act if necessary. Ensure that if you live in an at risk area that you are ready.
https://ready.scot/respond/severe-weather/rain-and-flooding

*[Please note - title edited again by MNHQ at OP's request to reflect evolving situation]

Glad to hear everyone is safe but you really can’t underestimate the dangers of walking through floodwater. 6 inches of fast flowing water is sufficient to knock an adult of their feet and we all know you can drown in a very small amount.

People don't know this. They are not deliberately walking through something they know to be dangerous. Maybe this recent weather event will make this vital information more widely known.

Many years ago, I was on a training course which took place in a chemicals site near Middlesbrough. We had to watch a safety film before we were allowed on site. The main thing it stressed repeatedly, was that you should always hold onto the stair-rail when going up and down stairs.

Falls down stairs are one of the most common accidents. Gravity kills. Not always, of course. It can also leave you alive, with broken bones, or life-changing injuries. Since then, I have usually held on to the stair-rail.

I do think there should be more education and advice on the news when there are floods, about staying safe around floodwater. What to do if your car gets trapped, how to wade through floodwater in a group for more stability, or using a pole to stabilise and test the ground and depth ahead (if you have to wade) and what to avoid at all costs, like fast-moving water. There are loads of stupid people on social media posting pics of themselves playing in floodwater on a lilo or just jumping in. So dangerous and likely to inspire kids to do it.

I remember in a flood a few years ago a man died in floodwater from getting his leg trapped and couldn’t be freed fast enough, and he died of hypothermia. Not that he was being silly (he was working clearing the drain I think), but it’s an example of the things floods can do that people don’t think about. The water can be contaminated too.

If your car falls into water, you are supposed to let it fill up with water until it is quite full. Otherwise you won't be able to open the door. Once the pressure on the car door is equal on both sides, you will be able to. The trick is a) knowing this, and b) keeping calm, believing the advice is true, and having the bottle to sit in a car that is filling with water, when all your instincts are telling you to Get Out Now.

Todays red warning will finish at 6pm rather than midnight. That's something at least.

DS had to do helicopter under water courses annually. The skill they were taught was to take in your surroundings, where the door was, how to find it in darkness by feel . Stay calm and find your way out and up.

Plus if you can’t open the doors or windows you are supposed to break a window. You have to take the headrest off and use it’s spikes to break the window.

If your car falls into water, you are supposed to let it fill up with water until it is quite full. Otherwise you won't be able to open the door. Once the pressure on the car door is equal on both sides, you will be able to. The trick is a) knowing this, and b) keeping calm,believing the advice is true, and having the bottle to sit in a car that is filling with water, when all your instincts are telling you to Get Out Now

That's for falling into deep water, but being in for example a flooded underpass with your car out of action, but the water isn't rising quickly. Should you stay put and wait for rescue, climb onto the roof, or make for safety by wading? Along with best practice for not getting into that situation, not playing in flood water, etc. I don't know why the new outlets don't do a little 5-minute safety briefing along with the news - it would save lives.

How about a MN guide to water safety? Produced collaboratively from this thread? And signed off by a proper H&S professional?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weather/4874750-autumn-2023 is our general weather chat where I'll be talking about after Babet and what is likely to happen next.

Sorry this is the first time I've tried this, so it may not work
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Argh. Was trying to link a FB post (with FB poster's permission) Anyone know how to do it?

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@SequentialAnalyst https://t.ly/s97ud

We have been in rain for ages and I can now see blue sky. Hurrah. Nice day for us tomorrow (Fife) before the rain returns. We were on the edge of red but on a hill with the Tay safely below us.

DH's family live about an hour north of Inverness, quite a lot of the roads are becoming impassable up there now. This is the view from my SIL's window



Here:

Is that Alness or somewhere near it?

A bit north but yes, not far away!

@weebarra that's some view. What are the conditions like now for your DH's family, are the roads improving? I don't think this is being properly reported, there's so much focus on other things and here we are so many people in perilous conditions. Hope they're safe and secure.

@heldinadream There is some reporting but on sites like BBC News it is on regional pages.
YouTube has various things... here is some drone footage from Sandiacre, Derbyshire:

The problem with YouTube videos though is that they can be miss described. I don't think that video from Derbyshire is correctly described... I think it may be from Yorkshire.

Here is a video from Rotherham, Yorkshire. I have been able to match images from it with satellite images - helps that it shows some Asda vans.

At one point it shows the River Don with the Aldwarke lock, by the Asda store. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4443517,-1.3208413,303m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

River Severn, Lower Apperley.

Severnside boat & caravan park can be seen and the Coalhouse Inn. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.9521608,-2.2119817,2511m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2023/2023_08_storm_babet.pdf

A report in Storm Babet.

Thanks for that, @OhYouBadBadKitten A fascinating read.
Or do I mean thanks? I've got things I've got to get on with, you know, and it was only with great difficulty I managed to tear myself away from the report on p.8.
A moment's thought, and I now realise that I do mean thanks