Five dead in floods

Updated 23.47 Sat Sep 06 2008

Keywords: Wales, death, Merseyside, Worcestershire, and Dublin, teenager, flooding, Warwickshire, Newcastle

The death toll from two days of storms across the UK has risen to five.

A 17-year-old girl on holiday in Wales, a motorcyclist travelling through North Yorkshire and a young couple from Plymouth all died in treacherous conditions on the roads on Friday.

A 17-year-old girl on holiday in Wales, a motorcyclist travelling through North Yorkshire and a young couple from Plymouth all died in treacherous conditions on the roads on Friday

And a 27-year-old man died while working in a trench at a construction site in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

The chaos continued as northern England was deluged on Saturday.

Several rivers burst their banks as seven severe flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency (EA).

In the village of Kirkley Mill, Northumberland, an RSPCA emergency team, called out to help some horses, found themselves rescuing a baby trapped in a car.

Cumbria, Durham, Newcastle and North Yorkshire were among the worst-hit areas, an EA spokeswoman said.

The 17-year-old girl, who died when the 4x4 she was in plunged into floodwater in a remote area of forestry in Powys, Mid Wales, was holidaying with two other people, police said today.

Earlier on Friday, a man and a woman died when their vehicle collided with a tree in heavy rain in Plymouth.

Details later emerged of a 42-year-old Sheffield man killed when the Kawasaki motorbike he was riding hit a tree branch on the A66 near Scotch Corner.

Flood barriers on the River Severn at Bewdley, Worcester and Upton-upon-Severn were erected, while a rest centre in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, was closed after floodwaters receded.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said two rescue teams were being deployed to North Yorkshire to help, including four lifeboats.