After 'Ciara', Great Britain hit by weather disaster 'Dennis'

(Patria) – Great Britain has had another weekend marked by extreme weather conditions, when in just 48 hours the amount of rainfall exceeded the usual monthly average.

Storm 'Dennis' caused numerous incidents in parts of England and Wales as local authorities struggled with raging rivers that overflowed their banks and isolated several local communities.

Sunday was particularly difficult for residents and rescue teams - the number of warnings on that day alone amounted to 594.

Two men lost their lives, who were pulled from the sea on the southeast coast of England on Saturday.

The British Met Office issued a 'red warning' for life-threatening floods for the first time since December 2015.

Although the warning was in effect for only a few hours, South Wales Police declared a state of emergency while fire services and rescue teams tried to help local communities affected by multiple floods and landslides. Residents of Skenfrith in Monmouthshire were advised to evacuate as the only measure to save lives.

The Met Office reported that the highest wind gust speed on Saturday was 146 km/h in Aberdaron in North Wales. In the Welsh county of Powys, about 157.6 mm of rain fell in the 48 hours leading up to Sunday morning.

Although the number of flood warnings was reduced on the second day of the weekend, at one point exactly 360 ongoing crises were counted.

Floods caused by continuous heavy rains also hit northern France, where the amount of rain usually expected for three weeks fell in two days.

Warnings are likely to remain in effect for some time as Great Britain recovers from storm Ciara, which claimed eight lives in Europe, British media report.