Storm Frank: Flood warnings remain in wake of storm

Dozens of UK flood warnings remain in place after Storm Frank hit Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

Scotland bore the brunt of Wednesday's bad weather, with many homes evacuated and others left without power.

Despite largely drier forecasts for New Year's Eve, fears of further flooding remain with north-east Scotland at risk of heavy rainfall on Sunday and Monday.

BP has ordered the evacuation of a North Sea oil platform after a barge broke its anchor in rough seas.

The company shut down production after the 110m-long barge began drifting towards the Valhall platform, a spokesman told Reuters. Several other rigs have also been evacuated.

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Train services on the West Coast main line between Carlisle and Glasgow have been suspended due to damage on the track, with disruption expected to last all day.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has visited York city centre, where hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes due to flooding.

He said he had spoken to Environment Agency (EA) officials about his concerns that new high-volume water pumps had not been sent to flood-hit areas.

He said he had been reassured that everything that could have been done had been, adding: "The issue is the resilience of the system for the future."

The EA said one of the pumps had been deployed to help the clean up in Cumbria, following the flooding there earlier this month.

An additional 43 smaller pumps had been deployed in more confined areas, such as York city centre, where larger pumps could not be deployed, a spokesman added.

More than 20 flood warnings - which mean immediate action is required - remain in place in Scotland.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is to visit flood-hit areas on Wednesday, tweeted to "thank those working 24/7 to respond".

Meanwhile, police in Scotland said the body of a man who went missing while kayaking on Wednesday afternoon had been found in the River Findhorn in Moray.

In England and Wales, more than 25 flood warnings and over 90 lower level flood alerts are in force.

In Northern Ireland, more than 270 roads were blocked by floods or fallen trees, with some still impassable.

The warnings follow a day of heavy rain and flooding with hundreds of people forced to leave their homes or left without power:

On Wednesday, part of the Victorian Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare collapsed into the Bristol Channel amid high winds caused by Storm Frank.

Meanwhile, in Devon, a delivery driver smashed through the window of a car to save the lives of two elderly people trapped in rising floodwater in Sparkwell.

Latest early provisional statistics from the Met Office show December has been record-breaking both for its warmth and rainfall.

The UK mean temperature from 1 to 29 December was a record breaking 8C, which is 4C above the long-term average. The previous record was 6.9C in 1934.

It was also the wettest December on record for Scotland and for Wales, which saw both saw a third more rain than the December average.

Live flood warnings from the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Tap here, external for up-to-date flood information.