A pub landlord has been hailed a hero for wading into rising flood water to save a 63-year-old woman trapped in a car – as she thanked him for saving her life.
Cimi Kazazi was assessing flood damage at The Italian Greyhound in Leicester when he noticed the woman stranded in a car with bitterly cold water above her chest.
Dramatic footage shows him wading through the water to pull the 63-year-old out of the car before carrying her back to dry ground.
Today, the lady thanks Mr Kazazi for ‘saving my life’.
‘Had I been there more than 10 or 15 minutes I don’t know what have happened – I was cold and shivering,’ she told local radio station Harborough FM.
‘The water was up to my chest, which must have been about three to four foot.’
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said Mr Kazazi had taken her into his Italian-British pub and given her coffee and food, adding that she was ‘very grateful’ for his intervention.
As onlookers hailed him a hero, Mr Kazazi insisted he ‘didn’t think twice’ before wading into the water to rescue the woman.
‘That’s something that I will never forget for the rest of my life,’ he said.
‘This is a catastrophe for the business and very painful. But I’m very grateful that I came and could have saved somebody’s life.’
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service received 200 calls this morning and rescued 17 people, with crews continuing to attend stranded vehicles and flooded homes.
More than 500 flood alerts or warnings were active across England and Wales, and the Met Office issued fresh weather warnings running until the end of Wednesday.
In addition, officials at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have extended their amber cold weather health alert for all of England until at least noon this Sunday.
The alerts had originally been imposed until Wednesday amid continued fears over ‘significant impacts across health and social care services’ over the coming days.
The Met Office said maximum temperature will be widely several degrees Celsius below average this week, while the mercury may fall into the minus teens Celsius overnight in the coldest spots with ‘widespread severe overnight frosts developing’.
It comes as many commuters suffered travel disruption today – with major roads closed, railway lines blocked and Manchester Airport’s runway closed for a time.
The AA had already branded today ‘Miserable Monday’ with the motoring group expecting up to 20 distress calls a minute as many workers head back to the office after two weeks off – with some having not used their car before Christmas.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of children across England had their Christmas break extended by a day as more than 500 schools were closed amid the severe weather.
The Environment Agency issued 166 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 299 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England. In Wales, there were three flood warnings and 34 flood alerts.
Meanwhile fresh Met Office weather warnings were issued this morning as wintry conditions continue to cause havoc.
A new yellow snow and ice warning for South West England, the West Midlands, the North West and much of Wales will be active from 5pm today until 10am tomorrow.
This warns of icy stretches developing this evening and further snow on the way with up to 2cm (0.8in) at lower levels and 5cm (2in) above 200m (650ft) in Wales.
A second new snow warning was also announced by the Met Office today for southern England, including South London, on Wednesday from 9am to midnight.
Forecasters said up to 5cm (2in) could accumulate fairly widely, and as much as 10cm (4in) on higher ground, especially over east or northeast-facing slopes.
There is also a new snow and ice warning for northern Scotland from 4pm today until midday tomorrow, and in Northern Ireland from 3pm today until 11am tomorrow.
It comes as many commuters today suffered travel disruption, with major roads closed and railway lines blocked. Manchester Airport’s two runways were closed early this morning because of heavy snow but have since reopened.
Britain also had its coldest night of winter so far, with the temperature dropping to -13.3C (8.1F) at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands, but it was much milder in South East England with St James’s Park in London at 11.4C (52.5F) early this morning.
Sonia Wheatley, a support worker from Loughborough who missed work today due to flooding on the roads, said it is the worst she has seen in the area.
Mrs Wheatley, 52, whose husband also missed work, said: ‘I’ve never missed work before because of the weather. Last year when it flooded, I managed to get through the floods, but it’s never been this bad.’
Mrs Wheatley left earlier this morning in anticipation of the flooding but said the water became too high to risk going through.
‘There’s no rain at the moment, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get through tomorrow,’ she added.
Judi Beresford, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service assistant chief fire and rescue officer, said: ‘Flooding poses a serious risk to lives and property, and we urge everyone to take these warnings seriously.
‘Our control room and crews are working tirelessly to assist those in need and to keep people safe.
‘We are working with our partners to reduce the impact of this major incident and ask the public to avoid flooded routes when travelling and never to enter floodwater.’
Thousands of journeys on the M25 in Surrey were being delayed as the motorway was closed in the anti-clockwise direction from junction 10 for the A3 to junction eight for Reigate after a lorry crashed into the central reservation and came to a rest sideways across the carriageway.
The M5 in Gloucestershire was closed southbound from junction 11A for Gloucester to junction 12 for Quedgeley because of extensive flooding.
Several stretches of A-roads across England were also closed because of severe weather.
These include:
The A46 in Warwickshire was also closed in both directions between the A452 for Kenilworth and the M40 (junction 15) because of a crash.
National Highways said ‘a car is reported to have aquaplaned due to flooding in the area’.
National Highways said several stretches of A-roads across England are closed because of snow, flooding or crashes. They include:
Aquaplaning is when a driver loses control because a layer of water prevents their tyres from gripping the road.
Severe weather was also causing widespread disruption on the railway network.
Flooding forced the closure of all railway lines between Derby and both Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway.
This was affecting CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services.
The operators were also disrupted by flooding closing all lines between Peterborough and Leicester.
Southeastern trains were unable to run from Ramsgate or Margate towards London via Canterbury West because of a fallen tree.
Great Western Railway said its trains between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester were running at a reduced speed because of ‘heavy rain flooding the railway’.
TransPennine Express said severe weather was causing the same issue for its services between Barnetby and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.
Flooding meant Transport for Wales services between Manchester and North Wales were only able to operate between Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester.
Manchester Airport said at 7.15am that its two runways had reopened, after reporting at 6.30am that they were closed because of ‘heavy snow’.
Three departures for today have been cancelled and a number of other flights are delayed.
Most of the UK saw heavy snow or icy rainfall over the weekend.
Major airports closed their runways for several hours due to heavy snow, while there were stranded vehicles and collisions which blocked key roads across northern England.
Cold air will return and remain across the whole country from today onwards after a brief spell of milder conditions in southern areas, the Met Office said.
The RAC said today would be the busiest day of the winter so far for vehicle breakdowns because of severe weather.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: ‘Today will undoubtedly be the busiest of the winter so far and our patrols are working exceptionally hard rescuing thousands of our members in difficult conditions. Waiting times will be longer as a result.
‘The impact of the weather, and the fact many people are using their vehicles for the first time after a festive break, means we’re expecting to be 80% busier than normal.
‘At our peak today, we will be dealing with upwards of 20 new breakdowns every minute.
‘We urge drivers who know their vehicles are slow to start to book in a mobile mechanic or reliable local garage as soon as possible as it may mean a new battery is required.
‘Conditions are especially challenging due to heavy rain and snowmelt causing flooding across the country.’
More than 27,000 homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the North East of England lost power during the cold snap, network operators Northern Powergrid said.
The firm said its teams have worked around the clock to restore electricity supplies to all but around 100 customers by lunchtime today.
A spokesperson said: ‘Our network continued to be impacted by the wintry weather conditions overnight, leading to customers predominately across Yorkshire and Northumberland experiencing power cuts. We want to thank our customers for their patience.
‘We understand how difficult a power cut can be, particularly in these conditions, and our teams will continue to work until all of our customers’ power is back on.’