One person dies in mudslide as rain continues to batter the UK

One person has died in a mudslide as rain continues to batter parts of the UK, with the worst of the weather “yet to come”.

North Yorkshire Police said a person died following a mudslide in Carlton-in-Cleveland at around 1.15pm on Wednesday afternoon.

The Met Office has warned more severe weather is still to come as some parts of the UK will see a month’s rainfall in just 24 hours.

Emergency services are at the scene in Carlton-in-Cleveland and there were no other injuries, the force said, with the public urged to avoid the area.

In a statement, police said: “We are currently responding to a mudslide at Carlton-in-Cleveland.

“We can confirm that one person has sadly died as a result of the incident.

“Our thoughts are with their family and friends during this difficult time.”

The Met Office said the area had seen almost a month’s worth of rain in the past day – with 41.6mm of rain recorded over the last 24 hours in Loftus, a town 20 miles away.

Simon Partridge, a forecaster at the Met Office, said: “The average monthly rainfall for May in North Yorkshire is 57.5mm so they’ve almost had a month’s worth of rainfall today.”

Mr Partridge said that there was still “quite a long way to go” until the rain was due to stop, and that wet weather was expected to continue in the area until Thursday evening.

Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told the PA news agency that the “worst is yet to come”.

He said: “There was a lot of rainfall overnight in the north-west and southern Scotland, as well as in areas such as the Midlands, East Anglia and the Home Counties.

“The wettest area was Drayton Parslow in Buckinghamshire which saw 68.8mm in the last 24 hours.

“That’s almost a month’s rainfall in one day.

“For comparison, most other areas have seen an average of half a month’s rain in the same amount of time.

“But there is a lot of rain still to come in the next 12 to 24 hours, particularly in north Wales and north-west England.

“There could be some flooding in north Wales until midday on Thursday.”

A 24-hour amber warning for rain has been in place across parts of North Wales and north-west England, including Manchester and Liverpool, since midday on Wednesday.

A yellow warning for rain covers the north of England, the Midlands and north and central Wales until 6am on Thursday, while another is also in place for southern and eastern Scotland until 6pm on Thursday.

Much of the south coast is likely to see lightning, with a yellow warning for thunderstorms in place until 7pm on Wednesday.

Regarding staying safe in wet weather, Mr Partridge said: “Although it may not look too bad when you leave home, it could turn much heavier once you’re out and about, so the best thing is to plan your trips and if you don’t need to go – the best advice is to try and avoid it.

“Keep an eye on your local warnings from the Environment Agency which are just as important as ours as well.”

On Wednesday evening, the Environment Agency had five flood warnings and 111 flood alerts in place across England.