UK storms: Coastal areas in west hit by renewed gales
Gales have continued to batter southern parts of the UK, with coastal areas hit by wind and rain.
Gusts reached 80mph on the coasts of Cornwall, the Bristol Channel and west Wales and the Environment Agency says there is a risk of further floods. In Surrey, the River Thames has burst its banks at Chertsey, with homeowners warned to expect flooding. Landslips and floods mean all rail routes into south-west England are now blocked. First Great Western said a landslip at Crewkerne in Somerset meant there were no services running between Yeovil and Exeter and replacement buses were in operation. Routes into the West Country from London via Bridgwater and Castle Cary were already blocked because of flooding. In Dawlish, where a key line between Devon and Cornwall was destroyed by waves on Tuesday, concrete has been sprayed onto the cliff behind the track to make the area safer in the face of continuing high winds and large waves. Network Rail said work at the site was "progressing well" in six-hour shifts in between high tides. Meanwhile, the village of Moorland in Somerset, where about 80 homes were evacuated after the local water level rose by about one metre overnight on Thursday, breaching temporary flood defences in the early hours of Friday, is among three areas subject to severe flood warnings. In other developments: The Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger, said river levels in his constituency remained "enormously high" and people there were "having to batten down again to prepare for the next storm". He again criticised the Environment Agency and its head, the former Labour cabinet minister Lord Smith, for not dredging in the area to prepare for storms. "We have been let down by London," he said. "On the ground they [Environment Agency staff] are working hard. Up in London I do not know what they are doing." The BBC Weather Centre said high seas and large waves would continue throughout Saturday in many southern and western coastal areas. But it said the tides were not as high as their spring tide peak last weekend. A Met Office amber warning advising people to be prepared for strong winds is in effect for south-west England and Wales and the South coast. An amber rain warning for southern England has expired, but a less severe yellow warning is valid until 06:00 GMT on Sunday. The yellow warning covers the entire south of England plus parts of the Midlands and much of Wales. The Met Office says winds will increase from the south west during the course of Saturday with gales affecting coastal districts. Further inland, gusts of 50-60 mph are likely. Wales, north-west England and south-west Scotland could get 20-30mm (1in) of rain through the course of Saturday. The strong winds are expected to last into Sunday morning but forecasters said most areas would have some respite from the stormy conditions on Sunday. Monday would be a quiet day but wet and windy weather would return on Tuesday. Defences breached The Environment Agency has three severe flood warnings - which mean "danger to life" - in place, two in Somerset and one for Chiswell in the Isle of Portland. The agency has also issued more than 180 flood warnings and almost 300 flood alerts. Downing Street confirmed on Saturday that the prime minister received a letter from local farmers last September in which they asked for government funds to help with flood protection and dredging. The request, for £1m, was passed on to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and declined by the floods minister at the time, Richard Benyon. Mr Benyon, who is no longer a minister, told the BBC his decision was likely to have been taken on the basis of the "best available information" at the time. He said the department received endless proposals for funding and needed to manage flood defences across the country. "I'm not saying everything was got right on the [Somerset] Levels but... we have had the worst amount of rainfall since 1760 and to tie this argument down to one letter or one event; it's much more complicated than that." Shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said it was the "latest proof of neglect by the government". "This is further evidence that David Cameron made the wrong decision on flood protection funding and shows that neither he nor his environment secretary take the issue of flooding seriously." On Friday, Mr Cameron admitted there were "lessons to learn" from the flooding and said it had been "wrong" for the Environment Agency to pause dredging in the 1990s.