Sky News Continues Live Cumbria Flooding Coverage Effort

Sky News has continued with its wall to wall coverage of the flooding in Cumbria, in the North West of England.  The channel has continued to excel itself, beating its closest rival news network, the BBC News Channel by a clear margin.

Live At Five on Sky News was once again broadcast from Cockermouth, after the worst floods ever seen in the region hit Thursday night – and it is feared fresh downpours could worsen the situation.

Sky News presenter Andrew Wilson has been live from Cockermouth throughout Saturday and broadcast Live At Five from the scene with latest on the situation affecting much of the north of England and Border areas.

Sky News Scotland Correspondent James Matthews has been out and about reporting on the safety of the area’s bridges.

And Sky News UK and Ireland  Correspondent Mike McArthy has been reporting on Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s  tour of the region today where Mr Brown said, while visiting a rescue centre in Cockermouth, he would do "whatever is needed" to ensure the crisis is dealt with "quickly":

He said, "We will do everything we can to support the local community in its hour of need," he said.  Mr Brown met rescue workers and residents who were forced to flee their homes after the record-breaking rainfall, saying the nation was "very proud" of their "great community spirit".

Sky News has been broadcasting from the affected region since Thursday night and on Saturday had three satellite trucks and five cameras on the ground bringing Sky News viewers all the developments from the devastated town.

The news channel has been broadcasting live from Cockermouth since 0600 Saturday with live with footage of the morning-after devastation, interviews with residents and rescue workers, including chainsaw teams, engineers and sites of concern such as the bridges in Keswick.  Live reports from multiple locations throughout Cumbria and SkyCopter images provided viewers with a  clear picture of the current damage level and aftermath. 

Sky News also broadcast interviews with Floods Minister Huw Irranca-Davies in Bridgend; Chief Constable Craig Mackey live for an update on emergency operations and Aiden Kerr, of the Environment Agency as well as Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to the flood zone  - Cumbria Police HQ and a rescue centre in Cockermouth, with expert analysis and political reaction from throughout the country including: Mary Dhonau, Chief Executive of  National Floods Forum from Worcester; David Balmforth, Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers from High Wycombe; Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert.

Sky News will continue to bring viewers the latest updates with Sky News reporters on the ground are Tweeting the latest updates and users of Twitter can follow them: @Skynewsnorth and @Skymanchester. Sky News reporter Tom Parmenter is also filing video footage on Qik.com and direct from his mobile phone to skynews.com.