Torrential downpours over Christmas have caused a rare sink-hole to appear in the Peak District, which is 130ft deep and growing.
Part of the Milldam lead mine near Buxton in Derbyshire has caved-in overnight and swallowed a field as terrible weather continues to plague most of Britain.
Electricity engineers visited the site today to assess how to re-route cables after two poles were left standing precariously either side of the 160ft wide hole, caused when water erodes the earth underneath and causes the whole area to collapse.
Meanwhile it has emerged today that Britain should brace itself for an entire month of violent weather, which could cause the number of homes currently flooded more than double to 2,000 by the end of the week.
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Force of nature: A field has disappeared into a giant sink hole at Foolow in the Peak District after a former mine failed to cope with days of persistent heavy rain
Rural idyll: With the rolling Peak District in the background, the 130ft deep and 160ft wide gash in the landscape has appeared overnight after the earth beneath it collapsed
Power problems: Engineers will examine the site for damage to cables which they may have to re-route
Battling the elements: A hardy runner braves torrential rain and gale-force winds in a bid to get some post-Christmas exercise in Southsea, Hampshire
Trouble: The River Afton in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, broke its banks after heavy rain ovenight causing major flooding in the area and blocking a main road
Today commuters suffered a miserable return to work after Christmas as bad weather again caused havoc on the roads and railways.
A number of major road routes were blocked by flooding or by fallen trees while landslips added to the problems for train travellers whose services were already disrupted by planned engineering work.
Persistent rain will sweep across the country today and return to drench New Year’s Eve revellers.
Then from New Year’s Day, storms and rain can be expected for the foreseeable future, forecasters warn. ‘There is no end in sight,’ said a Met Office spokesman.
The Environment Agency said there was a continuing risk of flooding, particularly in the south west of England, as rivers respond to heavy rainfall overnight.
SINKHOLES TAKE SECONDS TO OPEN AND CAN STRETCH FOR MILES
Sinkholes are found worldwide and can be more than 2000ft deep and dozens of miles wide.
The ground beneath is normally made of easily-dissolved rocks such as limestone, carbonates and salt beds.
When groundwater flows through these rocks, it eats away at them, leaving behind subterranean holes and caverns.
When the roof of one of these caverns collapses, the land above it falls in too, often in seconds. The world's largest is Qattara near Cairo, measuring 80km long by 120km wide.
Similar smaller holes have engulfed residential streets, often claiming lives.
For the past five days energy companies have scrambled to reconnect power to tens of thousands of homes left in the dark since Christmas Eve but bosses have admitted that their efforts were hampered by engineers being on holiday.
At its peak, more than half a million homes were left without electricity, but as of last night this figure was down to 130, who are now said to be reconnected.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said today he has pressed energy companies to stop staff taking new year holidays as a second week of storms looks set to derail the festive period.
'Quite clearly some of the power companies let their customers down badly,' he told BBC Breakfast.
'It seems obvious at this stage that they let too many of their staff go away for the Christmas holiday, they didn't have enough people manning the call centres and that wasn't acceptable.'
He continued: 'We have had bad weather overnight and we are looking to more bad weather unfortunately on New Year's Day, New Year's night. We made it very clear at Cobra yesterday - we do expect the power companies and we also expect those local councils that did not perform, that they have adequate staff to cater with what I am afraid may be more difficult times and more flooding.'
The minister added that he had chaired another emergency meeting to make plans for the continuing bad weather forecast for later this week.
'I don't want to see people left without power for days again,' he said. 'The Environment Agency will once again be out day and night and I have met their teams in Kent to see for myself how preparations are going.'
Grim start: Commuters, pictured on London bridge, returned to work in their droves today but bad weather and engineering works have scuppered their journeys today
Dreich: Londoners battle through wet and windy conditions as the Met Office admitted Britain faces another month of bad weather
Another bartering: A huge wave crashes into Brighton Pier today as days of storms again start sweeping across the UK
More disruption: After a nightmare Christmas week roads all over the UK have been blocked by floods and landslides caused by heavy rain, still making the Monday commute completely miserable for many
Danger: Today a vast swathe of rain has crossed the UK and now sits over the north-west and most of Scotland, which means there is a continued heightened flood risk
However, Labour's environment spokesman criticised Mr Paterson for 'pointing the finger' at workers when he was 'not been seen for days' himself.
'As the country faces more severe weather, households that went a week without power and suffered devastating flooding expect to see some action from ministers at long last, not attempts to pass the buck,' Maria Eagle said.
'Of course the energy companies must explain why it took so long to get power restored, but Owen Paterson has a nerve pointing the finger at staff being on holiday when he himself has not been seen for days.'
Energy bosses will be called before MPs to explain why so many homes were left without power for so long, it emerged today.
Tim Yeo, chairman of the energy select committee, said the firms' performance was 'unacceptable' and warned that they had to be 'properly scrutinised' by the power watchdog in future.
'I'm very concerned about how long the network distribution companies took to restore power to thousands of customers,' he told the Telegraph. 'The committee will call them in when the House gets back.
'I'm already concerned that these distribution companies are not properly scrutinised by Ofgem, despite being effectively monopolies. Their performance over Christmas was unacceptable.'
Basil Scarsella, chief executive of one of the country’s biggest power distributors, UK Power Networks, said: ‘We could not have avoided the damage caused by the storm but we could have responded to it better.
‘A lot of our employees had gone away for holidays so it meant we had a level of depletion in our resources – and that caused problems with getting people’s power restored.
‘It’s difficult to justify saying the company has performed well when customers have been without power for five days, but once we had an idea of how bad it was we were able to mobilise as many engineers and office staff as possible.’
The company, which owns electricity lines and cables in London, the South-East and East of England, said it will triple payments for 48 to 60-hour outages from £27 to £75 for those affected on Christmas Day as ‘a gesture of goodwill’.
Despite being a normal working day for many, many rail and some Tube services were disrupted because of engineering work.
Closure: Dartford Bridge was closed for second time in a week following high winds, with south-bound drivers diverted via the east bore of the tunnel
Huge delays: The closure resulted in delays both sides of the River Thames in Essex and Kent. However, the bridge is now believed to have been re-opened
Hazardous conditions: Drivers make their way through severe rain and winds on the M62 motorway near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on Monday evening
More bad news: The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning over fears of strong gales of up to 80mph affecting Wales, southern, western and northern England and Scotland today with more storms through the week
CANCELLATIONS, DELAYS AND DISRUPTION: BRITAIN SUFFERS MORE STORM-RELATED TRANSPORT TROUBLES
More pain: A flooded railway line just south of Aberdare in the South Wales valley's after heavy rain led to train cancellations and travel chaos
TRAINS
- Arriva Trains Wales: Services are currently being disrupted because of flooding on some routes. More information can be found here
- Chiltern: Services are being affected by a tree on the line near Gerrards Cross.
- CrossCountry: Delays between Glasgow Central and Motherwell / Larkhall. Also disruption between Lockerbie / Livingston South and Edinburgh
- First Capital Connect: Disruption in the Gatwick Airport area until further notice
- Gatwick Express: Disruption in the Gatwick Airport area until further notice
- Northern Rail: Major delays on some routes
- Scotrail: No trains between Kilmarnock and Carlisle until further notice. Delays between Glasgow Central and Motherwell / Larkhall. Also disruption between Lockerbie / Livingston South and Edinburgh
- South West Trains: Buses replace trains between Petersfield and Haslemere until at least 6 January
- Southern: Disruption in the Gatwick Airport area until further notice also disruption between Horsham and Dorking until further notice
ROADS
- M48: Severn Bridge closed to high sided vehicles because of strong winds and restrictions
- M65: Disruption close to J10 in Lancashire shut because of flooding.
- M74: Glasgow partially blocked at J3 because of flooding.
- M77: Glasgow partially closed at J2 because of flooding
- A7: Blocked in Langholm, Dumfries And Galloway, because of a landslip and flooding
- A30: Blocked near Yeovil in Somerset because of a fallen tree.
- A264: Closed in Langton Green, Kent, closed in both directions between the Dornden Drive junction and the Tea Garden
AIRPORTS
Lands End Airport: Flights diverted to and from Newquay Airport due to flooding
This included a major project affecting Gatwick Airport station which meant that no Gatwick Express train services were able to run.
Some of the work overran today, resulting in no morning trains between Redhill in Surrey and Three Bridges in Sussex.
Buses were running between East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges, while buses were also operating between Coulsdon Town and Gatwick Airport or Three Bridges, with some additional buses running between Purley and Three Bridges and between Victoria station in London and Gatwick Airport.
To make matters worse for travellers in this area of southern England, a landslip at Ockley in Surrey meant no trains were able to run between Horsham and Dorking, with buses being laid on instead.
Pre-Christmas landslips in four separate locations have meant there are no rail services between Petersfield in Hampshire and Haslemere in Surrey.
Uncomfortable journey: The Portsmouth to Isle of Wight catamaran struggles through high waves off Southsea today
Raw power: After a short respite, the Hampshire coast close to Portsmouth took another major hammering today as large waves went over its sea defence
Struggle: Severe flooding in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, today as further rain and strong winds are set to strike Britain today
This section of the line is not expected to open before Monday January 6.
There are currently no trains running on the Isle of Wight due to flooding. There are around 20 locations near Ryde where the land supporting the track has been washed away.
On the roads, one lane was closed on the M48 Severn Bridge due to strong winds, while a section of the M77 in Glasgow was closed because of flooding.
And Dartford Bridge was forced to close for second time in a week following stormy conditions and high winds - with south-bound drivers diverted via the east bore of the tunnel.
The closure - which last nearly two hours, before the bridge was re-opened - resulted in delays both sides of the River Thames in Essex and Kent.
More damage: A fallen tree lies against a house on Kings Road in Kingstanding, Birmingham after high winds and heavy rain battered the UK throughout the night
Scarred: Trees across the UK have taken a major battering over the past week and it looks like they will have to contend with more leading into February
Getting on with it: A car passes through a flooded section of road in the village of Hildenborough in Kent today
Timber: 13-year-old Ellen explores a fallen tree in Torpoint, Cornwall, after more 70mph winds bombarded the south-west of England overnight
Blustery: A woman is left with with a battered and broken umbrella in Shepton Mallet, Somerset today as another storm hit Britain today
Struggle: Much of Britain has suffered miserable conditions over the Christmas period and it is set to continue until the end of January
Soaking: Shoppers in Broadmead, Bristol, battle the wind and torrential rain to get to the shops today while many others returned to work
Deserted: A handful of people braved the inclement weather as they took a walk through Regent's Park in central London
Meanwhile, drivers on the M62 motorway near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, also faced a hazardous journey, with heavy rain and stormy weather.
A landslip at Hawick on the Scottish Borders led to hold-ups on the A7, while a section of the A36 in Hampshire was closed due to a fallen tree and fallen power cables.
A fallen tree was also the cause of the closing of a section of the A35 in Dorset, while another fallen tree led to the partial blocking of the A465 in Monmouthshire, South Wales.
The A475 Ceredigion in mid-Wales, the A487 in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, and the A3059 in Cornwall were all blocked because of fallen trees.
Haze: A jogger battles through persistent rain and strong wind on the shore in Southsea, Hampshire
Choppy journey: A ferry in the Solent travelling from the Isle of Wight to Southsea on the mainland
Powerful: Stormy seas batter the walls of the Brighton marina as turbulent weather refuses to let up
Tourist attraction? The waves beating against the mostly deserted Brighton seafront today
Caution: Cars drive along the road near Yalding in Kent, one of the worst-affected towns in Britain during the recent floods
Waterlogged: The area remains at risk from flooding even a week after the initial disaster as the bad weather continues
Among many roads affected by flooding were the A71 in East Ayrshire in Scotland, the A1101 in Norfolk, the A39 in Cornwall and the A48 in Gloucestershire.
There were speed restrictions on the A38 Tamar Bridge in Devon due to strong winds.
Bosses at Gatwick warned passengers to allow extra time to reach the west London airport, with travellers told to expect their journey to take up to two hours longer than normal due to the train restrictions.
Commuters in Wales returned to work late today and some didn't make it in at all after high winds and flooding disrupted travel.
Roads were closed after winds at speeds of up to almost 80mph buffered cars and ripped down trees.
High waters: Experts from the Environment Agency use a boat to inspect the banks of the river Medway at Yalding in Kent, an area hit by flooding
Making a splash: This 4X4 crashed through a large puddle in the centre of Aberdeen today as torrential rain again fell across the UK today
Soaked: Worcester racecourse is unlikely to be hosting any sporting events in the near future after the River Severn swelled and flooded it today
Picture of Britain: Some 70 flood alerts and five more serious flood warnings remain in place across the country, with the majority in the west and south-west of the UK
HOW FAR? DRIVERS SENT ON 27-MILE DETOUR AFTER FLOOD BLOCKS OFF CAMBRIDGESHIRE VILLAGE
Motorists are taking a risk by driving through flooded country roads to avoid a 27 MILE detour to reach the village of Welney in the Cambridgeshire Fens.
The road across Welney Washes has been officially closed, but the only other way into the village means a long one hour drive through narrow country lanes.
Drivers were still going through the 3ft deep water this morning (Mon) as the country was hit by more heavy rain and winds of up to 78mph on the south coast.
The stormy weather, which is heading across Britain from the West, is expected to clear as the day goes on. But the rain will return tomorrow morning (Tues), with showers into the evening.
New Year's Day will see heavy rain from the West, with strong winds of up to 60mph on exposed western coasts.
The Met Office has issued a weather warning for rain in the South and South West of England and South West Scotland and there is a possibility of localised flooding.
Around 30 to 40mm of rain could fall in some areas along the south coast, equivalent to half a month's rainfall.
'The unsettled weather will continue into the New Year,' said Dan Williams, of the Met Office.
'Thursday will be windy, particularly in the north, with some showers around and the winds will start to pick up again on Friday.'
Flooding in Wales caused disruption to train services there. Train services were cancelled when up to a foot of rainwater covered the rails near Aberdare, South Wales.
Among routes affected were Llandudno Junction to Blaenau, Aberdare to Abercynon, Clarbeston Road to Fishguard Harbour and Newport to Hereford.
Safety checks being made on the line near Guildford in Surrey led to delays to services run by the CrossCountry, First Great Western and South West Trains companies.
In Scotland, flooding at Curriehill, near Edinburgh, meant delays to services operated by CrossCountry, First TransPennine Express, ScotRail and Virgin Trains.
On the M5 near Bristol there were tailbacks due to an accident.
Other main routes continued to be affected by flooding and fallen trees.
Additional payments up to a maximum of £432 will be made to customers without electricity for longer.
Graham Stringer, a Labour MP and member of the Commons energy and climate change committee, said: ‘This is a time of record profits and record prices for the industry and still all their staff are on holiday.
'I think there needs to be an urgent inquiry into what has happened over this Christmas period.
‘It should not be unexpected that we have extreme weather – floods or snow – between December and February. For all their staff to be away is like the Soviet Union giving canteen workers a break at lunchtime.’
Gareth Johnson, the Conservative MP for Dartford in Kent, said: ‘A number of my constituents were affected by this failure to have adequate cover over the holiday period.
‘It beggars belief that some people have been left without power for days on end because too many staff were given time off.’
Some 1,300 properties have been flooded during the recent storms in England, the Environment Agency said, while flood defences have protected more than 80,000.
However, the fresh wave of bad weather could see the figure for flooded homes double to more than 2,000 in the worst hit areas of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
The agency said persistent rainfall means there is a ‘continued heightened flood risk’ across southern England, particularly South-West England. Some 70 flood alerts and five more serious flood warnings remain in place across the country.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'There is a continuing risk of flooding today, particularly in the south west of England, as rivers respond to heavy rainfall over
'On New Year’s Day, heavy rain is expected which could cause flooding to communities in the south east and south west of England.
'People travelling this week are also reminded to check the latest flood updates ahead of making journeys and should not drive through dangerous floodwater'.
Getting worse: Another month of storms is due to batter the UK while places such as Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, have only started cleaning up
Powerless: Last night 130 homes still had no electricity five days after the Christmas Eve flooding - but now everyone has apparently been reconnected this morning, including here in Cambridgeshire
A Met office spokesman has warned there is 'no end in sight' for the bad weather which has ravaged Britain, including here in Worcestershire
Terrible: So far 1,300 homes have been flooded, including here in Gloucestershire, but more rain could see that figure double to more than 2,000
Dire: New Year's Eve revellers can expect a drenching too as up to 15mm of rain is expected to fall on December 31
One warning is in place for Tewkesbury where the ground is still saturated after the Christmas rain. Much of the Gloucestershire town was submerged after the Avon and Severn rivers burst their banks last week.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: ‘For as far as we can see, the wet and windy weather is here to stay. There is no end in sight.
'We are in the middle of winter, so this weather is not unusual, but there is no sign of it settling down as we go into January.’
Six people have died during the bad weather, while the bill for insurance companies is likely to top £100million.
'While people were battening down the hatches, we were making the most of it': Boat sent out in 30ft waves and hurricane-force winds to test if it is storm-proof
This is the terrifying moment a boat is smashed head on by a monster wave - before bursting out the back of it to safety.
The 48ft pilot vessel was pummeled by the enormous 30ft breaker as violent storms battered the coastline of the UK.
Incredibly the boat's two-man crew had deliberately taken it out in the horrendous Force 11 storm to put it through its paces.
They spent an hour testing the Interceptor 48 boat in the white-knuckle weather, during which time they deliberately took on dozens of gigantic waves.
Riding high: This 48ft ship flies up a wave during a training exercise in high winds and rough seas as it tests its capabilities in the ongoing storms
Tough conditions: The vessel was pummelled by the enormous breaking wave as violent storms battered the UK coastline over the festive period
Terrifying: This 48ft pilot vessel was pummelled by this enormous breaking wave after it was sent out in Force 11 winds off the Irish coast
Out the other side: The vessel was almost hidden from view after it passed through and over the giant wave before taking on another one
The boats are used to transfer pilots - experienced sailors with expert knowledge of local waters - to cargo ships to guide them in and out of port They also serve as search and rescue vessels.
The images were captured on camera by Frank Kowalski who runs a pilot vessel supply company from Cork in Ireland. Mr Kowalski was on another larger boat that tackled the same wave seconds after he took the pictures in the Celtic Sea.
'There's only one way to make sure the boats are up to the job and that's to test them in the roughest of conditions,' he said.
'We wait until the winds are howling and the seas are boiling then take our new boats out to see what they can do.
'The best place in the world to test boats is in Cork harbour when the tide is going out because it kicks up the biggest waves.
'While everyone was battening down the hatches we were out on the water making the most of the weather.
'The wind had been blowing about 60mph for 10 hours and the waves were up to 30ft tall - perfect for putting the boats through their paces.
'It's daunting when there is a wall of water coming towards you at 30mph but the boats performed brilliantly.
'If you want to know how she responds when surfing downwind on the face of a 30ft wave, you just have to take her out and show her that wave'
'OUR VILLAGE WAS SACRIFICED TO SAVE THE SHOPS': KENT COMMUNITY FURIOUS AFTER IT IS SWAMPED
The Environment Agency has been accused of ‘sacrificing’ a Kent village for the sake of the market town of Tonbridge.
The government body, responsible for flood protection, opened sluice gates on the Leigh Barrier dam on Christmas Eve which released more than 1.25million gallons of water into the Medway.
The agency is accused of issuing the command to protect high street shops and industrial units n Tonbridge.
Angry residents of Yalding (right) claim they suffered as a result. The village was swamped in 5ft of water.
The Environment Agency insisted that operating the Leigh Barrier had ‘protected Tonbridge without having any adverse impact on other communities’.
