YORKSHIRE was mopping up today after three people died in devastating floods across the region.
Two people, including a teenage boy, were swept to their deaths in Sheffield and a man drowned in a storm drain in Hull.
Thousands more spent the night out of their homes as the area was battered by nonstop rain for more than 24 hours.
The deluge meant we’re on course for the wettest June on record.
Train services were today still at a virtual standstill across the region, as floodwater damaged signalling equipment.
And 250 people were evacuated from their homes today because of fears that a dam could burst.
Rotherham Council urged residents living near Ulley Dam in South Yorkshire to leave their houses after an expert warned there was a "significant risk" the dam walls could fail after abnormally heavy rain.
The floods claimed the life of 14-year-old Ryan Joe Parry, swept into the River Sheaf in Sheffield, and a 68-year-old man swept away in a flooded street in the city.
Forty members of the Huddersfield-based Woodhead mountain rescue team spent the night rescuing elderly people stranded in homes in South Yorkshire.
The team – more used to winter rescues on the snow-covered moors and hills – used a boat to carry terrified elderly residents to safety.
Team leader Mike France said: "Conditions were atrocious".
The West Yorkshire Fire Service handled more than 1,200 calls yesterday and last night, and many areas were left without electricity.
Firefighters were at full stretch by the middle of yesterday afternoon with 999 calls coming in at the rate of 200 an hour.
An urgent plea was put out at 4pm urging people to make calls only where life was in danger.
A spokesman said: "Resources are at full stretch. The fire and rescue service will respond to any life-threatening situations, but we would urge people not to contact us where life is not at risk.’’
He advised that when homes become flooded people should turn the electricity off and use sandbags to try to keep the floodwater at bay.
Crews from Huddersfield and Brighouse spent most of the night pumping water out of homes in the Wakefield area.
Crews spent many hours pumping water from a business in Heckmondwike. At its height water up to 4ft deep had poured into Rieter Automotive on Cook Lane yesterday afternoon.
The deluge had come off a nearby hill.
A crew from Huddersfield spent two hours at a house on Neale Road, Lockwood, after water seeping through the walls caused an electricity meter to fizz and pop. Firefighters stood by as a precaution until Yorkshire Electricity engineers could get to the house to turn the power off.
Roads were shut due to deep floodwater on Moor Lane in Gomersal, Drubb Lane in Cleckheaton, Halifax Road and Union Road, Liversedge and Granny Lane and Steanard Lane in Mirfield.
Huddersfield was today counting the cost of the nonstop torrential rain, as people mopped up after flash flooding across the region.
And the town was bracing itself for yet more rain.
As Flaming June continued its sorry, soggy progress, the weather experts were checking on the record books.
Almost 3ins of rain have fallen on Huddersfield in the past 48 hours, the equivalent of the average for the month in a normal year.
Now it is predicted that the total rainfall for June will top 220mm - more than FOUR TIMES the normal levels.
Fire crews across West Yorkshire were inundated with calls for help as flooding hit business, homes, parks and car parks.
River levels were well above normal with the River Colne flooding at Linthwaite, the Calder causing major problems in Brighouse and the River Holme affecting areas stretching from New Mill to Armitage Bridge.
Driving conditions on the transPennine M62 were described as some of the worst ever with standing water forcing traffic to a crawl on stretches between Huddersfield and Leeds.
The Environment Agency imposed flood warnings on the River Colne, the River Calder and the Fenay Beck as water levels rose alarmingly throughout the county. Barnsley Road at Flockton was severely flooded for the second time in a fortnight.
Brighouse firefighters were busy throughout the day attending the Black Swan public house in the town centre in Briggate which was badly affected by flooding in the cellar of the property.
It is next to the Calder and Hebble Navigation.
The property has flooded in the past.
A spokesman said the Tesco car park was also two foot deep in water.
And crews tried unsuccessfully to find a dog missing in Wellholme Park which was also badly flooded.
The park was closed to the public as the flooding grew worse.
Flooding once again devastated businesses at a Denby Dale shopping mill.
The heavy rain caused the River Dearne to burst its banks for the second time in just over a week – causing flooding at Springfield Mill.
All 25 businesses suffered when floods hit the mill last week and yesterday’s rain (June 25) saw them waterlogged again.
Fire crews were called to pump 18ins of water from the mill, while shop owners tried to salvage damaged stock.
People in Honley were also battling rising water. Homes on New Mill Road, near Neiley Playing Fields, were barricaded with sandbags to stop flood water getting in and buses struggled to pass through huge puddles on the road.
A horse sanctuary is appealing for donations and a new premises after its charity shop was gutted by flooding, the second time in two weeks.
Albert’s Horse Sanctuary shop in Springfield Mill, Denby Dale, has had to throw out all its stock, most of which was donated in an appeal after flooding two weekends ago.
In Huddersfield the Unna Way underpass on the ring road was closed as water gathered several feet deep.
Deighton reader Jason Isherwood photographed a waterspout in the clouds above his home – caused by a mass of pressure in the huge formations.
Salendine Nook meteorologist Paul Stevens said: "Since 1am on Sunday we have had almost three inches of rain, the normal for the whole month.
"The average for the whole of June is only 55mm and we look like having well over 200mm by the end of the week, making it possibly the wettest on record.
"It’s a complete contrast to southern Europe where they are having a heatwave with temperatures reaching 42°C (106°F).
"It’s certainly a washout June for the UK and we can expect more rain over the next day or two before things calm down towards the weekend."
The weather’s onslaught on Britain this month is the result of a sluggish jet stream, a series of areas of low pressure and the time of year, a forecaster said today.
Heavy rain, flash floods and thunderstorms have caused havoc across the country with two lives already lost due to the horrendous weather.
Forecasters predict more rain is still to come this week and into next as hopes of a scorching summer, inspired by record-breaking temperatures in April, fade.
"Waves" in the jet stream which moves weather systems across Britain means areas of low pressure have lasted longer and created far more rain than normal, according to Paul Knightley.
The forecaster for MeteoGroup, the Press Association’s weather division, explained that the jet stream usually pulls weather systems along but because it was not sitting straight, it had been holding the low pressure in place.
He said: "Instead of the jet stream blowing straight from the Atlantic across the UK through Scandinavia, it has got huge waves in it.
"In a way it is like a rope which is not nice and straight but has kinks in it, making it move right down to the south and then back up to the north.
"Anything that gets caught by the weather does not have the jet stream to move it along and gets held up in the loop. When the jet stream doesn’t push weather systems along, that causes rain and thunderstorms."
