TORRENTIAL downpours brought flooding and road closures across North Yorkshire, and led to a rapid rise in the River Ouse in York.

Motorists rushed to move their cars away from King's Staith in the city centre, as the waters rose, but the new pumps in the Foss Barrier were working well, said the Environment Agency.

The Ouse's water level was 3.26 metres at 6.30am today (November 23) in the city centre. The Environment Agency says flooding is possible.

Around the county, there had been 22 incidents overnight between Monday and Tuesday, and eight cases of cars getting stuck.

The A169 was closed at Blue Bank near Sleights, after the rain washed between 500 and 600 tonnes of gravel and sand from the 'escape lane' on the hill on to the road.

North Yorkshire County Council said it would stay closed on Tuesday night and for much of Wednesday.

Cattal Bridge near Tockwith is also likely to remain closed for most of Wednesday, until water levels recede, but the council said some drivers had been ignoring the closure signs.

County councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways, said: “A few roads remain closed and we continue to monitor the highways network and work to get the roads open as soon as we can.

"However, it is very important that people continue to drive carefully and heed warning signs on roads across the county.”

Some properties in Sinnington near Pickering were hit when the River Seven rose, and there were various alerts around the region on the Ouse, Nidd, Rye and Derwent, including for land around Stamford Bridge, Pocklington, Wressle, Wilberfoss and Elvington.

Preparations have been put in place this week to warn the people of Tadcaster of potential future flooding from the Wharfe. The Environment Agency said their incident room in Leeds was opened following the heavy rain on Monday, and they were “closely monitoring the situation”, because as the ground was already wet, “rivers could respond quickly to further heavy rainfall”.

The county council has also taken measures around the works at the damaged Tadcaster Bridge, along with the Highways Depot at Selby District Council.

York Press:

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said the Selby department had 2,000 sandbags instead of its normal 1,000 at the ready.

Council and Environment Agency field technicians will this week discuss public calls for a gauge board to monitor the levels of the river, at a site meeting this week.

The spokesman said the river levels were expected to peak on Tuesday before high pressure is set to cause drier conditions in coming days.

  • Flood advice is available from the Floodline on 0345 9881188 or on the Environment Agency website.