TRAINS between York and Doncaster and a road near Selby have been hit by flooding - as York's River Ouse continues rising.

The disruption has affected CrossCountry, Grand Central,Hull Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast services, but is expected to ease by mid-evening.

Hazardous driving conditions have been reported on the B1223 at Ulleskelf due to flooding between Bell Lane and B1222 Market Place, affecting traffic between Tadcaster and Selby.

The River Ouse in York is expected to continue rising until tomorrow afternoon, following the heavy rain over the Easter holidays.

The Foss Barrier was closed this morning as part of Environment Agency attempts to prevent flooding alongside the River Foss, and the Ouse has already caused flooding in the King's Staith and Queen's Staith areas.

York Press:

The River Ouse in York city centre. Picture: NYP York City

The Ouse reached three metres above normal summer levels this afternoon, and is expected to reach 3.4 metres this evening and then peak at about 3.8 metres tomorrow afternoon.

However, the agency says this forecast is subject to change as levels upstream on the River Swale have yet to peak and are currently responding to melting snow. 

Flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, are in place for the Ouse at York riverside properties, Osbaldwick Beck, River Ouse at Naburn Lock and River Foss downstream and upstream of Yearsley Baths.

Warnings are also in force for Pickering Beck riverside properties, River Derwent at Buttercrambe Mill and the Derwent at Stamford Bridge, with The Weir Caravan Park and Kexby Bridge the areas of concern.

Meanwhile, less severe flood alerts are in place for the River Foss and for the Upper River Ouse in and around York.

There is an alert for the Lower River Nidd, with the alert area covering Tockwith and Moor Monkton.

In addition, an alert is in place for the Lower River Derwent. The area covered by the alert includes Stamford Bridge and Elvington.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "River levels are steadily rising in York and North Yorkshire catchments and remain very high across East Yorkshire where we have seen some of the highest levels in over 10 years. We have received reports of isolated property flooding. Our incident rooms in York and Leeds are open to monitor the situation and we have full rosters in place to cover the next 24+ hours with staff on the ground managing ongoing operations.

"We have issued a number of flood warnings on the River Foss due to the volume of water flowing down the river. All our flood assets are operating as designed and the Foss Barrier in York was lowered at 7.30am today when the Ouse reached its trigger level. We expect the River Foss to peak soon. We are operating key pumping assets including the Foss Barrier in York and the East Hull pumping station. The incident team is looking at using drones to get a better overview of catchments."

The spokeswoman added that there is no more heavy rain forecast so the current expectation is that the levels in North Yorkshire will peak by mid-morning.

In East Yorkshire, levels are steadily rising and will continue to do throughout the day, the spokeswoman said, adding: "We expect river levels to remain high for the next few days due to the amount of water in the system and the tide from the Humber."