CARLISLE - The northwest of England braced Monday for more severe weather after three people were killed, and more than 1,000 homes flooded, over the weekend in one of the worst winter storms in decades.

A 63-year-old man was killed when a barn blew down in an area near the Scottish border, while the bodies of two elderly women were found in homes in Carlisle, which was ravaged by heavy flooding. Elsewhere, two people were missing in West Yorkshire and in Morayshire, in the Scottish Highlands, after they were swept away in rain-swollen rivers.

The same storm system also hammered Scandinavia, leaving 11 people dead in Denmark and Sweden. So bad was the damage over the weekend, however, that schools in Carlisle were closed Monday, hospital operations cancelled, and thousands left waiting to return to homes that were still without power.

The level of flood waters in Carlisle, as I understand it, is the highest ever recorded
Environment Minister Elliot Morley after inspecting the damage

Some people in Carlisle had to be rescued by helicopter Saturday from the roofs of their houses surrounded by floodwater, and cars were seen floating down streets. Fifteen families were airlifted to safety while thousands of o ther people left their homes on their own initiative, a police spokesman said. One resident, Alan Hargraves, 45, told of how he had to throw his front door keys to a man in a rescue boat so they could open the door and get him out.

Water started seeping up through the carpets and coming in through the air vents. At one point the water rose to about four feet (1.2 metres) high. Things were just floating round the house. The fridge had toppled over and bags of vegetables were floating round the kitchen.

By Sunday the rains had abated and the floods were receding, leaving debris strewn around the Carlisle city centre, as dazed locals waded through the water-logged streets under slate-grey skies. Rescue workers were still ferrying people around in boats, while firefighters pumped water from affected areas and some residents in waterproof rubber boots began clearing up their damaged homes. One local lady told of seeing a cow floating down the swollen River Eden on Saturday. She lost sight of the animal after it was swept through the city and under a bridge.