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UK: Storm Dennis traps residents, smashes records as authorities warn of threat to lives

Cars semi-submerged by floodwater on Oxford Street, Nantgarw after Storm Dennis hits the UK.

Cars semi-submerged by floodwater on Oxford Street, Nantgarw after Storm Dennis hits the UK. Photo: AAP

Residents have been trapped as water poured into their homes and thousands of people are without power, in a record-breaking storm wreaking havoc in the UK.

Dramatic footage out of Wales shows water gushed from house windows and cars were submerged when an estimated month’s worth of rain fell within 48 hours during Storm Dennis.

Britain’s Environment Agency issued a record number of flood warnings and emergency services declared major incidents in south Wales and parts of England, as police and firefighters worked to rescue people trapped after rivers burst their banks.

Warnings of severe flooding, which posed a danger to life, were in place in four locations for the River Teme on the Welsh borders and for the River Taff and River Neath in south Wales.

Another 240 flood warnings were in place across England, 70 in Wales and 20 in Scotland on Monday morning (Australian time).

Last week two people were killed as storm Ciara saw parts of the country hit by 149km/h winds.

An ambulance in water in Nantgarw, Wales, during Storm Dennis. Photo: Getty

A man’s body was recovered from the River Tawe, the BBC reported early Monday morning (Australian time) but police later said his death was not being linked to the weather.

“Agencies are continuing to deal with multiple floods and landslides, and have been required to evacuate residents from houses,” South Wales Police said in a statement.

“Many rescues have been carried out over the past few hours along with the evacuation of houses.”

Katie Davies, who has been evacuated from her home in Cardiff, told the BBC police knocked on her door to tell residents they “have to leave because the river has burst its banks”.

“Our two cul-de-sacs of 15 houses have all been evacuated,” she said.

“The houses on the other side have been flooded straight through.

“It’s tragic because it’s never been this high. Never in my life and I’m 26 – so not in the last 26 years.”

Storm Dennis has hit Britain barely a week after Storm Ciara disrupted transport, flooded homes in northern England and left thousands without electricity.

The bodies of two men were pulled from rough seas off England’s southeast coast on Saturday in two separate searches.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the high winds while train services were repeatedly disrupted by flooding, affecting tens of thousands of passengers on a key weekend for British families as schools closed for the mid-winter break.

-with AAP

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