CAWOOD Bridge and roads in North Yorkshire have been closed by Storm Dennis as North Yorkshire begins a night of heavy rain.

North Yorkshire Police and transport bosses are warning motorists and pedestrians not to go into flood water.

The Humber Bridge and Tees Viaduct have been closed to high sided vehicles for most of the day.

Now North Yorkshire County Council has closed Cawood Bridge entirely. It is the one road bridge between Selby and York.

The list of closed roads in the county now includes:

Cawood Road at Stillingfleet, Oxton Lane, Oxton, The Ramparts in Bolton Percy, New Road/Raw Lane in Ulleskelf, Back Lane, Acaster Selby, the B1223 at Rythe, Intake Lane and Beal Bridge at Beal, Newton Lane at Fairburn, and the A685 at Apperset near Hawes.

Some of the roads were already closed by flooding after Storm Ciara.

Richard Flinton, chair of the multi-agency Local Resilience Forum which covers North Yorkshire and York said: “We are sure the public would understand that we are targeting those resources at the areas which are the highest priority.

“Combined with melting snow on some high ground and the fact that a lot of land is already saturated following Storm Ciara last weekend, we are focused on targeting resources where the impacts of further rain are most likely.

“We advise people to watch the weather forecast from the Met Office, to consider whether there is action they need to take and to keep a close eye on travel conditions.

“Above all we would urge people to postpone travel plans if at all possible, to keep safe and not to drive through flood water and road closure signs and keep away from open water in any event as this can endanger lives.”