:00:21. > :00:24.Emergency teams are attempting to help hundreds of people badly
:00:25. > :00:35.affected by serious flooding across Yorkshire and Lancashire.
:00:36. > :00:42.There are 400 military personnel deployed to help.
:00:43. > :00:46.In York, the Army joined an operation to evacuate about 300
:00:47. > :00:51.The Government's emergency Cobra committee met today
:00:52. > :00:53.Speaking afterwards, David Cameron said more troops
:00:54. > :00:57.He also said Britain was facing more extreme weather events and ministers
:00:58. > :01:01.There are currently 244 flood warnings and alerts in place
:01:02. > :01:04.Of those, 24 are severe flood warnings, defined as those
:01:05. > :01:08.In Scotland, there are currently four flood
:01:09. > :01:12.Here's the latest from Phil Bodmer in York, where large swathes
:01:13. > :01:27.This is the scene across much of northern England. Towns and
:01:28. > :01:32.countryside submerged under water. Days of rain have created
:01:33. > :01:38.unprecedented flooding. Mountain rescue teams on the streets of York.
:01:39. > :01:43.The flooding here is the result of problems at a nearby flood barrier
:01:44. > :01:47.which failed after water overwhelmed pumping equipment. Local people told
:01:48. > :01:55.us they had never seen river levels so high. It is insane. I have never
:01:56. > :01:59.seen it go up over the footpath, let alone on the road, and then the
:02:00. > :02:04.footpath on the other side, it is insane. Despite the rescue
:02:05. > :02:11.operation, many residents chose to stay put. Lots of people want to
:02:12. > :02:16.stay in our houses, quite stoic it is their house. While the weather is
:02:17. > :02:22.good and it is a nice, drawn fashionable warm day, it will be
:02:23. > :02:26.fine. If it is dark and the power goes off then things will change
:02:27. > :02:32.quite quickly. Emergency services were busy evacuating those at risk
:02:33. > :02:37.after the River broke its bank in numbers of areas. Such is the scale
:02:38. > :02:41.of the operation, the police requested assistance from volunteer
:02:42. > :02:44.services and the army. We are dealing with a dynamic situation, as
:02:45. > :02:50.we have been over the last few days. It is all about what the water does
:02:51. > :02:53.and what support the Environment Agency, the police, and everyone who
:02:54. > :02:58.is pulling together, it needs to get back to normality. Part of Leeds
:02:59. > :03:03.city centre were also off-limits after the River breached its banks,
:03:04. > :03:09.turning roads into rivers. We have decided to deploy more military
:03:10. > :03:14.resources, more military personnel, to help. The emergency services have
:03:15. > :03:18.done a fantastic job and continue to do so. They deserve thanks from the
:03:19. > :03:21.whole nation. At this time of year particularly we feel huge sympathy
:03:22. > :03:26.for those who have been flooded and had to leave their homes. The
:03:27. > :03:30.Environment Agency said river levels could rise by another half metre
:03:31. > :03:32.today. The people of York can only watch and wait to see what happens
:03:33. > :03:41.next. Phil is in York for us. Sunshine and
:03:42. > :03:48.blue skies. What is happening to the water? The water is still rising. We
:03:49. > :03:53.have been moved across the streets will 50 reasons. The water level is
:03:54. > :03:56.still coming up. We were speaking to a resident on the opposite side of
:03:57. > :04:01.the street who told me that he thinks the red dashes that the level
:04:02. > :04:08.will stabilise later this afternoon. That is what the Army has told him.
:04:09. > :04:13.The neighbouring River is due to peak tomorrow afternoon and he is
:04:14. > :04:20.expecting a bit of a search here. Currently the river level on the
:04:21. > :04:25.Ouse is at 4.9 metres and is expected to reach 5.1 metres in the
:04:26. > :04:29.city centre later today. The flood defences in the city centre are
:04:30. > :04:33.built to cope with a level of around 5.4 metres and that is what the by
:04:34. > :04:40.mid-agency is predicting it will reach tomorrow. This city is on a
:04:41. > :04:44.knife edge. If it goes over high point for, large parts of this
:04:45. > :04:48.historic city could go under water. Large parts are still open for
:04:49. > :04:52.business. Tourism bosses would welcome that. There are concerns
:04:53. > :05:00.that the York flood defences are on edge. They must hope and wait that
:05:01. > :05:03.the worst does not happen. They are preparing for every eventuality,
:05:04. > :05:07.hence the major rescue operation is under way this lunchtime.
:05:08. > :05:09.More than 7,000 homes are still without power across Lancashire.
:05:10. > :05:12.Two of the worst hit areas were were Ribchester and Whalley
:05:13. > :05:14.where hundreds of homes had to be evacuated.
:05:15. > :05:16.The clean up operation is now under way there.
:05:17. > :05:23.Our correspondent, Emily Unia, is in Whalley.
:05:24. > :05:30.Well, what a difference a Day makes! This time yesterday, river levels
:05:31. > :05:34.had reached their peak and it was an absolute emergency. People were
:05:35. > :05:38.having to leave their homes. The emergency services were rescuing a
:05:39. > :05:44.lot of people, roads were closing and entire streets were underwater.
:05:45. > :05:48.24 hours later, water levels have automatically reduced, leaving
:05:49. > :05:52.behind a disgusting, Vic, brown sludge absolutely everywhere. People
:05:53. > :05:58.are now beginning to assess the damage and work out how to clean up.
:05:59. > :06:05.The morning after in Whalley. Regular customers at Kelly Hughes
:06:06. > :06:12.headdresses had come to help. I am so, so lucky. All my customers have
:06:13. > :06:17.been great. Friends, family... Dads of the girls I work with. Everyone
:06:18. > :06:23.has lent a hand. We will be back open tomorrow at nine o'clock. Not
:06:24. > :06:30.everyone will be back to normal so, please. Four Q Shackleton, the
:06:31. > :06:37.volume of water washing down the street was a real shock. -- Q
:06:38. > :06:45.Shackleton. He has lived here since 1964. It have studied before but
:06:46. > :06:51.never this badly. It was horrendous. -- it has flooded before. It is the
:06:52. > :06:59.first time it has come up from the river. It is hard to believe that
:07:00. > :07:05.this was Whalley yesterday. As the waters rose, Boxing Day tested the
:07:06. > :07:09.teas were abandoned and Christmas ended early. -- festivities. The
:07:10. > :07:15.great clean-up was well under way but it may be premature. Bad weather
:07:16. > :07:15.is forecast so seems like this may keep returning.
:07:16. > :07:25.Community spirit has been keeping everyone going. It is extraordinary
:07:26. > :07:30.to see everyone turning up on doorsteps of buckets and brooms,
:07:31. > :07:34.offering to help out. The problem is there is an anxiety lingering. That
:07:35. > :07:38.is because there is more rain forecast for Wednesday. While people
:07:39. > :07:41.are beginning a clean-up, taking damaged furniture out of houses,
:07:42. > :07:44.there is a skip lorry directly behind the camera in front of me
:07:45. > :07:52.that is taking lots of damaged furniture away. The problem is, if
:07:53. > :07:54.that rain does all later in the week and causes more flooding, all of the
:07:55. > :07:56.efforts today will have been in vain.
:07:57. > :07:58.You can keep up to date with the latest developments
:07:59. > :08:00.on the severe flooding affecting Yorkshire and Lancashire
:08:01. > :08:03.on the live page on the BBC News website at bbc.co.uk/news,
:08:04. > :08:06.or listen to your local BBC radio station for all the latest news,
:08:07. > :08:12.And Ben Rich will have an extended look at the weather for the next
:08:13. > :08:16.The former Conservative leader, Lord Howard, is calling
:08:17. > :08:19.for Government ministers to be given a free vote on whether to remain
:08:20. > :08:24.He told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend
:08:25. > :08:28.that both sides of the argument had to be treated with respect.
:08:29. > :08:31.He said he disagreed with his fellow former Conservative leader -
:08:32. > :08:34.Sir John Major - who called for collective responsibility
:08:35. > :08:39.At least eight people died last night after tornadoes swept
:08:40. > :08:42.through Dallas, in the South of the United States.
:08:43. > :08:45.Described locally as "freak weather" the storms flattened homes
:08:46. > :08:50.Trees and power lines were down along a 40-mile stretch.
:08:51. > :08:58.It brings the death toll to 30, in days of December storms tearing
:08:59. > :09:00.across the southern United States and northern Mexico.
:09:01. > :09:04.And England have been bowled out for 303 on the second day
:09:05. > :09:06.of the first Test against South Africa in Durban.
:09:07. > :09:08.They lost their last five wickets for 56 runs.
:09:09. > :09:10.But England moved swiftly in the field with Stuart Broad
:09:11. > :09:22.taking a wicket on only the second ball of South Africa's innings.
:09:23. > :09:24.South Africa were currently 55-2 a short time ago.
:09:25. > :09:27.A Briton has become the first person to row non-stop and solo
:09:28. > :09:32.to row from San Francisco in America to Cairns in Australia.
:09:33. > :09:33.The 53-year-old, who has previously rowed
:09:34. > :09:35.the Atlantic, says he's delighted with his achievement
:09:36. > :09:43.The first person to achieve something on this scale
:09:44. > :09:55.Knowing how hard it was, I thought I was going to be
:09:56. > :09:58.here mid-October and it was going to be hard work but just
:09:59. > :10:01.like the Atlantic, it wasn't going to try and kill me,
:10:02. > :10:23.The next news on BBC One is at 6:05pm.
:10:24. > :10:24.Good afternoon. After the couple of days we have just had,