Motorists urged not to drive through floodwater

Flood warnings remain in place with a number of roads still closed advising motorists not to drive through them.

Dozens of properties have been flooded in greater Lincolnshire with warnings still in place at Market Deeping and outside Boston, Lincoln and Scunthorpe areas.

Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) said it was continuing "to monitor the situation and support residents in certain areas where there are still concerns" despite the flood water receding.

A number of road closures remain in place and the LRF has urged motorists: "Do not drive through them – they are there for a reason".

Posting on its website on Wednesday, Lincolnshire County Council reported 11 road closures including at Boston, Greatford and Wainfleet, which were among the worst flood-affected areas in the region.

The LRF said: "A total of 88 properties have so far been confirmed to have been flooded internally, with the most being in Boston and South Kesteven, and this number may change as reports and information continue to be gathered.

"We are encouraging residents to report any flooding if they haven't already as this will help us respond and help."

The organisation declared a major incident on Monday night but, on Wednesday, said it was "hopeful the situation will continue to improve" as there was no rain forecasted for the next few days.

"While it will take some time for water levels to return to normal, we are seeing residents who left their homes start to return and planning is starting around how to help communities recover who have been impacted."

However, the LRF advised people to "take care as temperatures remain cold" earlier informed motorists that driving conditions were "likely to be challenging, so drive to the conditions."

For the first time in its history, East Midlands Ambulance Service declared a critical incident due to flooding.

Director of Operations Ben Holdaway said rising demand for its services on Monday night meant there were "over 500 incidents waiting for an ambulance response", compared to the average 200 people on a typical day.

He said the service was reviewing the situation but "I can't tell you when we'll lift the critical incident".

"We'll only be able to stand ourselves down from the incident when we feel we're on a safe ground," said Mr Holdaway.

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said £2.4bn of government money would be invested in flood defences across the country.

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