No power for huge areas of England

Schools in the region have been closed, travel disrupted and some non-emergency hospital procedures cancelled.

More rain is expected this week across the north of the UK, with 16 severe flood warnings, indicating danger to life, in place.

Storm Desmond battered north-west England, as well as parts of Northern Ireland, north Wales and southern Scotland, over the weekend.

Record-breaking amounts of rain fell in Cumbria – the worst-hit county – prompting it to declare a major incident.

More than 100 flood warnings and alerts are in place in England and Wales, and more than 20 are in place in Scotland

The majority of Cumbria’s schools will reopen on Tuesday, although 11 remain closed. Lancaster University has cancelled teaching for the rest of term after losing power across much of the campus

Five rescue centres are open across Cumbria for those forced to leave their homes

Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said it would be running only essential services

There are no trains running between England and Scotland via Preston, and roads have closed in the worst-affected areas

Virgin Trains said it hoped to reopen the West Coast rail route by 12:00 GMT after flood water north of Carlisle fell quicker than predicted, but it warned delays were still likely

On Monday night as many as 43,000 homes were without power.

Teams from Electricity North West worked through the night to reconnect many thousands.

For more on this press release go to  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35035816

Thumbnail image courtesy of John Proctor and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence