Section of beloved Peak District climb washed away by flooding

A section of the Abney Road climb has been washed away by the torrential rain that has caused flooding in areas in the Midlands and north of England.

A month's rain fell in 24 hours on Thursday and Friday, with seven 'severe danger to life' flood warnings being issued across the region.

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Abney Road in the Peak District, a favourite of cyclists, was severely affected, with images showing a section of the climb having been washed away by the heavy rainfall.

Twitter user Digital Cyclist posted the photos to Twitter, having found them on the Sheffield cyclist Facebook group 'Common Lane Occasionals', calling Abney Road "one of, if not the best cycle climbs in the Peaks".

Cycling author Simon Warren, who has written books about various climbs in the UK and Europe, asked VeloViewer creator Ben Lowe whether the KOM records would remain, saying: "Does this mean the KOM goes with it and everyone has to start again?"

The Abney Road climb is 7km long with an average gradient of 3.5% and reaching a maximum of 10.4%.

Nearly 6,000 people have logged the climb on Strava, with Andrew Newby holding the record, completing the climb in 14-44 at an average speed of 28.6km/h.

Derbyshire County Council announced they had closed Abney Road, from the village of Abney up to the gliding Club, on Friday morning.

The heaviest rainfall occurred on Thursday night at Swineshaw in the Peak District, which had 112mm or rainfall in 24 hours, just 20 miles from Abney.

One woman has died as a result of the flooding after becoming submerged in floodwater. Her body was found hours after she was swept into Derbyshire's River Derwent.

During a visit to the area, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We need to prepare and we need to be investing in defences."