Former High Sheriff of Derbyshire named as woman who died in floodwaters

The woman who died after being swept away by floodwater has been named as the former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Annie Hall.

Derbyshire Police said Mrs Hall's body was found in the early hours of Friday after she was swept away by water in Darley Dale, near Matlock.

Mrs Hall served as the county's High Sheriff in 2017 and has been described as a "great leader".

"I am shocked and deeply saddened by the untimely and tragic death of my friend, and former High Sheriff, Annie Hall," Derbyshire Police's Chief Constable Peter Goodman said.

"Annie was a great leader in Derbyshire in both industry and on the civic front. She will be hugely missed."

Her family also released a statement, saying: "It is with great sadness that we, the family of Annie Hall, report her sudden passing.

"We are in great shock and grieving."

Some communities were braced for rising waters on Saturday, while other deluged areas were given some respite by sunny weather.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited a flood-hit community in South Yorkshire and warned the UK could expect more extreme weather due to climate change.

"Obviously we need much better flood management and prevention schemes," he said.

"It also means properly funding our fire and rescue services and properly funding our Environment Agency to deal with this.

"The Environment Agency has lost a fifth of its staff, the fire services have lost more than a fifth of their staff. They're struggling to cope with this."

Mr Corbyn visited a street in Conisbrough which is still cut off by floodwater.

Residents told him how water from the nearby River Don rose quickly on Thursday night, inundating a number of their homes in the cul-de-sac.

Alison and James Merritt showed the Labour leader around their drenched home before he headed off to Doncaster to talk to firefighters involved in the response to the flooding in the area.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Matlock in Derbyshire on Friday, where he said the widespread flooding across the UK "is not looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency".

Mr Johnson said the Government would "certainly stand by ready to help" after the country was hit by a deluge of water described as "almost biblical" by residents in Toll Bar, near Doncaster.

Yorkshire and the Midlands were among the areas worst affected by the heavy downpours on Thursday and Friday.

Sheffield in South Yorkshire received 84mm of rain over 36 hours, which is almost the average monthly rainfall for Yorkshire, the Met Office said.

The flood-hit areas received some respite on Saturday with dry and sunny conditions across eastern England.

There were still seven severe flood warnings in place for England, however, which suggested there was a "danger to life".

The Environment Agency warnings were in place for the River Don at Barnby Dun, Bently, Fishlake, Kirk Bramwith, Kirk Sandall, South Bramwith and Willow Bridge caravan site.

Another 54 warnings, urging people to take immediate action due to expected flooding, were also in place – along with 74 alerts urging residents to be prepared.

Residents in the small village of Fishlake, South Yorkshire, were advised to evacuate, while police were continuing to monitor rising river levels in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

The first snowfall of the season was also recorded on Saturday in Wales.

Sunday is forecast to be a dry and sunny day across most the UK, with a frosty start expected in some places.

"It's going to be a bright, sunny, nice, autumnal day," said Met Office meteorologist Sophie Yeomans.