Two fell walkers rescued in major Storm Isha operation

Two people who walked up a fell were rescued in a major operation during Storm Isha, which has caused flooding, power cuts and disruption in Cumbria.

About 20 mountain rescue volunteers, two RAF teams and the coastguard had to battle "horrendous" conditions on Hart Crag, near Ambleside.

Meanwhile homes have been flooded in Shap where gusts of 82 mph (131.97km/h) were recorded.

Electricity North West said about 7,500 homes were without power in the county.

Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team (LAMRT) said it had received a report of two walkers, one who had suffered a leg injury and could not walk, on Hart Crag at about 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

The rescue involved two mountain rescue teams, who "forced their way up, fighting the wind, rain and swollen streams", and help from two RAF teams and a coastguard helicopter.

Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association chairman Richard Warren told BBC Radio Cumbria that a lot of equipment was carried up in anticipation of a serious leg injury.

But he said when teams reached the two people, one of them had "a twisted ankle, which would have been classed as walking wounded".

"People will be shocked. The message was very clear, the high fells really was a no-go area," he explained.

"I'd be really interested to know what motivated them to go up onto the high fells," Mr Warren added.

Meanwhile, power cuts, flooding and widespread travel disruption continue to grip Cumbria in the wake of Storm Isha.

Parts of the M6 near Carlisle and Tebay have been closed and rail services have been cancelled amid weather warnings.

Emergency services in Cumbria were braced for a major incident as Storm Isha, the biggest storm of the season so far, hit the UK.

A yellow warning for wind was issued by the Met Office and remained until 12:00 GMT across Cumbria on Monday, while another yellow wind warning is in place for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Operations at the Sellafield nuclear site have resumed after they were suspended as a precautionary measure.

A number of flood warnings remain in place for Cumbria.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service's (CFRS) group manager, Mike Clusker, said the impact had been "county-wide".

He said some homes in Shap had been flooded, which was "mainly due to people driving in surface water" that caused waves which washed into people's properties.

Owner of Shap Village Store, Cheryl Benson, said the "worst part" of the storm had been the effect of people driving through the village, which caused a "tidal wave into people's houses".

Mr Clusker said specialist water teams had to rescue four people from two vehicles who had got stuck in Patton Bridge, near Kendal, on Sunday evening.

He said there was "a lot of standing water" around in the county and urged people to avoid driving in it.

A small number of homes in Appleby have been flooded as the River Eden's water level rose overnight.

A flood siren warned residents, who were putting sandbags outside their homes up until the early hours of Monday.

Mike Farrell, from the Environment Agency (EA), said officers would remain in the town to help affected residents and "reduce the impact of any flooding".

Mr Farrell said the EA was also monitoring the River Eden where levels have "risen slightly" on Monday morning.

About 7,500 homes in Cumbria remain without power as engineers have been unable to safely make repairs, Electricity North West (ENW) said.

ENW said "progress has been made despite horrendous overnight conditions".

More than 41,000 homes were without power after Storm Isha hit, with the majority of the damage in the north of the Lake District.

Rachael Parr, director at ENW, said the high winds "continue to make it a difficult situation" to fix faults.

Ms Parr estimated supplies would be restored by Tuesday at 17:00 GMT, but said this was a "worst-case scenario".

The company advised affected customers to check for updates on social media or to call 105 for help.

Rail services at Carlisle have been cancelled with all lines blocked due to heavy flooding.

Operator Northern has urged people not to travel on the Skipton to Carlisle and Barrow in Furness to Carlisle routes.

Rail services running between Hexham and Carlisle have also been cancelled due to a fallen tree blocking lines.

Cumberland Council said its highways team received more than 100 calls overnight.

All lanes were closed on the M6 northbound between J43 and J44 near Carlisle due to an overturned lorry, while the M6 remains closed southbound between J39 at Shap and J38 at Tebay to allow for recovery of multiple overturned lorries.

The A66 remains closed in both directions to all vehicles between Brough and Bowes. Several overturned lorries need to be recovered before the road can be reopened.

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