The Observer Britain was braced for more flood chaos last night as heavy rain and gale force winds threatened to swamp a country already reeling from fierce storms on Friday.
More rain is on the way.
The last set of storms that swept across Britain at the end of last week killed four people and brought widespread rail chaos, triggered power cuts in south Wales and created deadly road conditions. At one stage most of west Wales was effectively cut off as two major roads were flooded. However, as well as rendering hundreds homeless and causing millions of pounds of damage, the storms also produced their share of 'Dunkirk spirit' as a beleaguered population came to terms with yet more flooding. In what is thought to be the first operation of its kind in Britain, the Royal Mail rescued three of its postal trains stranded by floods and transported them by road to rail lines unaffected by the rising waters. The response was an unusual response to an unusual situation,' said a spokesman for English, Welsh and Scottish railways.