VOA慢速英語：英國北部遭強(qiáng)風(fēng)暴襲擊引發(fā)洪災(zāi)

Two people died. Roads and highways are closed. Homes are without power. And travelers are stranded in Great Britainbecause of record rainfall.

由于暴風(fēng)雨襲擊，造成2人死亡、道路與高速公路被封閉、家中電力供應(yīng)中斷并且旅客不得不滯留英國。

The rain set records and affected the northern part of Englandand Scotland. The national weather service issued a "red" alert for rain in the area. Red is the highest alert.

Rescue workers remove local residents by boat from a flooded residential street in Carlisle, Britain December 6, 2015.

此次降雨量創(chuàng)下紀(jì)錄。英格蘭與蘇格蘭北部受到影響。國家氣象局在該地區(qū)發(fā)布暴雨紅色預(yù)警。紅色為最高級(jí)別預(yù)警。

In some areas, water reached above the doors of parked cars.

在一些地區(qū)，洪水已淹至停放汽車車門。

The Reuters news agency says two people died because of the flooding.

路透社報(bào)道洪水已導(dǎo)致2人死亡。

The head of Britain's Environment Agency called the weather "unprecedented."

英國環(huán)境局負(fù)責(zé)將該天氣形容為：“史無前例。”

Most of the region received between 200 to 300 millimeters of rain over the weekend, according to the U.K.'s National Weather Service.

根據(jù)英國國家氣象局報(bào)道，周末，大部分地區(qū)降雨量在200?300毫米之間。

HonisterPass, an area north of Manchester in the Lake District, received 341 millimeters of rain on December 5. That set a record for 24 hours.

Honister Pass，位于曼徹斯特北部的湖區(qū)，在12月4日到5日的24小時(shí)中，其降雨量達(dá)到341毫米，創(chuàng)下新的降雨量記錄。

The weather office says severe weather may continue into the week.

氣象局表示，惡劣天氣可能會(huì)持續(xù)到本周。

The head of the Environment Agency told BBC Radio "from time to time nature will throw things at us which willoverwhelm the system, and I think that is what happened here."

環(huán)境局負(fù)責(zé)人告訴BBC電視臺(tái)：“大自然會(huì)時(shí)不時(shí)地向我們丟擲某物，使得自然系統(tǒng)不堪重負(fù)。并且我認(rèn)為這就是現(xiàn)在這里所發(fā)生的情況。”

Extreme rainy weather is not only affecting the northern hemisphere. The city of Chennaiin southern India also received over 300 millimeters of rain in 24 hours last week. visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

極端多雨天氣不僅使北半球受到影響。上周，位于印度南部的金奈市，其降雨量在24小時(shí)內(nèi)超過300毫米。

The rain emergencies came at the same time world leaders are meeting in Franceto discuss climate change at the COP21 convention.

暴風(fēng)雨侵襲的同一時(shí)間，世界各國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人正在法國召開第二十一屆聯(lián)合國氣候變化大會(huì)，討論氣候變化問題。

One climate change expert from the United Kingdom's office of the World Wildlife Fund told the BBC "storm Desmond is the sort of storm that we will see more of over the coming decades if we fail totackle climate change."

來自英國世界野生動(dòng)物基金會(huì)的一位氣候變化專家告訴BBC：“Desmond風(fēng)暴，是一種風(fēng)暴，如果我們不能共同應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化問題，在未來幾十年，我們將會(huì)經(jīng)歷更多。

In Malham, water flowed over thecliffsfor the first time in memory for many residents. It is the country's tallest active waterfall – at just over 70 meters.

在馬勒姆，在許多居民的記憶中，這是首次洪水漫過懸崖。這是英國最高的流水瀑布，高度超過70米。

I'm ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Dan Friedell.

我是Dan Friedell。

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reporting from the Associated Press, BBC, Reuters and The Telegraph. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

What's the most rain you've seen in a 24-hour period? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section or onour Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

alert– n. the state of being ready for something you have been warned about (such as an attack)

overwhelm– v. to affect (someone) very strongly

strand – v. to leave (a person or animal) in a place without a way of leaving it — usually used as (be) stranded

?tackle – v. to deal with something difficult

unprecedented – adj. not done or experienced before