Dozens rescued as rain leads to flooding and travel is disrupted in parts of the UK

LONDON (AP) — Dozens of people were rescued Monday from flooded homes and stranded cars as a soggy and cold spell continued to disrupt life across parts of the U.K. and more wintry weather was expected.

Hundreds of schools were closed for the first day of classes of 2025, trains were halted and commuters experienced headaches as sections of highways and major roads were closed from high water and snow that made driving hazardous.

Much of the U.K. has been hit by strong winds and periods of precipitation that struck before New Year's Day and snuffed out several fireworks displays and other celebrations. Several communities have faced significant flooding since the start of the year.

Warnings that flooding was expected were issued in nearly 200 places in England by late Monday afternoon. Several train lines were shut down or experiencing delays due to floodwaters or trees that had fallen on tracks.

The body of a man found Monday in a flooded area near the River Aire in northern England was believed to have gone in the water over the weekend, North Yorkshire police said. They were seeking his identification.

Leicestershire and neighboring Lincolnshire in the English Midlands declared major incidents as they responded to hundreds of calls for help as waterways spilled over their banks and turned roads into rivers, burying cars up to their roofs.

Nearly 60 people were rescued from swamped homes and vehicles, the Leicestershire fire service said on the X social media platform. Emergency workers were trying to pluck children from a school in Edenham, where they were safe but stranded, the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum posted on X.

One woman was rescued from a car by a pub owner who waded up to his chest in frigid floodwaters to pull her from the vehicle and carry her to safety.

Cimi Kazazi, the owner of the Italian Greyhound in Great Glen, had arrived at his business in the morning to find it partially under water, Luigi Salcini, the pub manager told The Associated Press.

The woman had tried to drive to her house when her car, covered with a dusting of snow from the night before, got stuck. Eventually the water rose up to the windows.

“She started to drive but realized the car was deeper and she started going down with the water,” Salcini said. “She started to scream, ‘Help’ and we came out and Cimi went to rescue her.”

In rural areas, rows of hedges poked from the brown waters marking field boundaries as large swaths of farmland were submerged.

Southeast of London, the Little Venice trailer park in Yalding, Kent was surrounded by floodwaters.

Snow created a beautiful backdrop in the hills of northern England and parts of Scotland, but forced hundreds of schools to shut their doors on what had been scheduled to be the first day of the new year.

With temperatures dipping below freezing in many places, authorities were also warning people to be careful of icy conditions in Tuesday.

Snow and ice warnings were in place for most of the U.K. into Tuesday and through Wednesday in southern England.

A member of a Mountain Rescue team stand on a road after helping to clear cars from a snow drift near Ribblehead, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

A person clears snow from a car in Allendale, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Snow surrounds Duckett's Grove, a ruined 19th-century great house and former estate in County Carlow in Ireland, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

A view of a blanket of snow on cars and houses, in Allenheads, in the Pennines, Northumberland, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

A view of flood waters around the Little Venice caravan park in Yalding, Kent, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

Members of a Mountain Rescue team help to clear cars from a snow drift near Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England, as large parts of the UK are facing heavy snow and freezing rain, which is likely to cause disruption, after two amber weather warnings came into force, on Monday Jan. 6, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

A view of flood waters around the Little Venice caravan park in Yalding, Kent, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

A vehicle is submerged under water near the River Devon, in Bottesford, Leicestershire, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

A person clears snow from a road near Allenheads, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

A car passes between flooded fields near the River Tone in Somerset, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

A view of flood waters around the Little Venice caravan park in Yalding, Kent, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, as they cycled on a rural New Jersey road pleaded not guilty to the indictment Tuesday after turning down a prosecution offer of 35 years in prison.

Sean M. Higgins, 44, appeared briefly in court in Salem County, New Jersey, and entered a formal plea to the recent indictment in the Aug. 29 deaths. The case will now move toward trial.

Defense lawyers, in a statement, said they hope to prove that the deaths stemmed not from any “malfeasance” but from “a combination of uniquely unfortunate circumstances unlikely to ever occur again.”

They described Higgins as a combat veteran who has faith in the legal system.

Prosecutors say the married father of two — who worked for an addiction treatment company — had a history of road rage and was impaired that day after drinking five or six beers. He said he had been driving around for two hours, sometimes talking by phone with a friend, after an upsetting conversation with his mother.

Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on the eve of their sister’s wedding.

A driver in front of Higgins told police that he had been driving aggressively. When she and another driver slowed down and moved left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreaus, she said.

Higgins had a blood-alcohol level of .087, which is above the state’s .08 legal limit, and failed a field sobriety test, police said.

He is being held on charges that include two counts each of aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, along with evidence tampering and leaving the scene of an accident.

Defense lawyer Matthew Portella has called Higgins a loving father and a good person who “made a horrible decision that night.”

Both Portella and county prosecutors confirmed the terms of the proposed deal.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the NHL and was set to start his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames.

FILE - Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the county courthouse in Salem, N.J., Nov. 12, 2024(AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)