Body found after being swept into river amid Storm Babet red weather warning
A body has been found after being swept into a river as the UK is hit by freak weather.
A rare red weather warning is now in place after residents of hundreds of homes were urged to evacuate earlier today (19 October).
Storm Babet left thousands without power as homes face flooding from 'unprecedented' amounts of rain.
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Police Scotland report the body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus.
The woman died after being swept into the river in Scotland.
Police say her body was recovered this afternoon at Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
There is currently a red weather alert for heavy rain in the area.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday, 19 October, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
“Around 4pm, the body of a 57-year-old woman was recovered from the river. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
The Met Office has issued a four-day warning for most of the country, explaining there is a small chance that communities in the most badly affected areas could be 'completely cut off, perhaps for several days'.
Earlier today, residents in Brechin, in Angus, were told to evacuate due to flooding.
Approximately 350 properties were set to be evacuated.
A red warning for parts of the east of Scotland, including Brechin, Forfar and Kirriemuir is in place from this evening through to midday tomorrow.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Eastern parts of Scotland will see exceptional amounts of rainfall over the next few days and the significant accumulations are likely to cause considerable impacts from Storm Babet.
“Numerous Amber and Yellow rainfall warnings are in place for rainfall over the coming days, up-to and including Saturday, but in the red-warning area 100-150mm of rain is expected to fall quite widely, with some locations possibly seeing 200-220mm, which is expected to cause considerable impacts with flooding likely.”
Storm Babet began to cross over Britain yesterday morning and is set to stay until the weekend.
At 6.00am on Saturday, the yellow weather warning for rain across eastern England and southern Scotland is expected to be lifted as Babet continues moving towards Eastern Europe.
Jess Battison