UK weather: disruption across road and rail network in England and Wales with hundreds of flood warnings in place – live | UK weather
Severe disruption across rail network with west of England badly hit and parts of Wales mainline closed
Gwyn Topham
Flooding has severely affected rail services in the west of England, with parts of the mainline to Wales closed.
Great Western Railway and South Western Railway have urged passengers to check before travel with many trains unable to run as planned.
Heavy rain has caused disruption around the network and rendered some points impassable, with landslips and damage to trees
GWR, which runs trains between London and Wales and the southwest, said that three lines were flooded, between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, Reading and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford.
Some services could be rerouted with long delays but many would be cancelled, GWR warned, with a minimal rail replacement service.
The weather problems for GWR have been compounded by an incident in Reading that cancelled services on Thursday evening and left trains and crews out of place.
South Western said that while it expected water levels to drop and most of its network to reopen later on Friday, it would not be able to operate services between Yeovil Junction and Exeter because of a landslip near Crewkerne.
It said there would be disruption throughout the day because of displaced trains and crews.
Many local roads, especially in the west of England, were closed by flooding on Thursday, while on the major road network, the A421 in Bedfordshire between the M1 motorway and the A6 was impassable on Friday. National Highways said work was being carried out to clear the flood water.
Key events
Rishi Sunak should visit areas impacted by flooding, the Liberal Democrats have said
The party’s spokesperson for housing and communities, Helen Morgan, said: “The prime minister should see for himself the devastation caused by these floods. People’s homes and businesses have been ruined yet again.
“If Rishi Sunak actually met with people impacted by this annual carnage, then he might do something about it.
“Under this government flood protection plans for homes have been disgracefully slashed. This must be reversed immediately.
“This has to be the last year areas like mine in Shropshire are left to fend for themselves against floods.”
Footage showing a narrowboat pushed sideways against a bridge as water streams past it on the River Soar in Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, was filmed by a local resident on Thursday amid widespread flooding in the Midlands.
Local resident Sam Harper Ard, 27, told PA news agency: “I live in the village and take my kayak out regularly on that stretch of the River Soar and I’ve never seen it so high.”
The PR manager said that “narrowboats are a real part of the community here” so seeing a canal boat affected by the flooding was “really sad”.
“I hope the owners and everyone involved is safe,” he said.
Severe disruption across rail network with west of England badly hit and parts of Wales mainline closed
Gwyn Topham
Flooding has severely affected rail services in the west of England, with parts of the mainline to Wales closed.
Great Western Railway and South Western Railway have urged passengers to check before travel with many trains unable to run as planned.
Heavy rain has caused disruption around the network and rendered some points impassable, with landslips and damage to trees
GWR, which runs trains between London and Wales and the southwest, said that three lines were flooded, between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, Reading and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford.
Some services could be rerouted with long delays but many would be cancelled, GWR warned, with a minimal rail replacement service.
The weather problems for GWR have been compounded by an incident in Reading that cancelled services on Thursday evening and left trains and crews out of place.
South Western said that while it expected water levels to drop and most of its network to reopen later on Friday, it would not be able to operate services between Yeovil Junction and Exeter because of a landslip near Crewkerne.
It said there would be disruption throughout the day because of displaced trains and crews.
Many local roads, especially in the west of England, were closed by flooding on Thursday, while on the major road network, the A421 in Bedfordshire between the M1 motorway and the A6 was impassable on Friday. National Highways said work was being carried out to clear the flood water.
In Gloucestershire, police warned of road closures due to rising water levels around Tewkesbury.
An evacuation centre was set up in the nearby village Walton Cardiff while people living on Alney Island, between two branches of the River Severn, in nearby Gloucester were urged to leave their homes overnight for a nearby leisure centre.
Nottinghamshire county council declared a major incident on Thursday due to rising levels along the River Trent and several residents of Radcliffe Residential Park, an estate of static caravans for the over-55s just to the east of the city, were evacuated.
Caroline Douglass, the Environment Agency’s flood director, said the Trent was at “some of the highest levels we’ve seen in 24 years”.
She told BBC Breakfast more than 1,000 properties had been flooded across England this week, with that figure likely to increase.
Douglass added: “We have had very wide rainfall.
Over November and December, following Storm Babet and Storm Ciaran, the ground was incredibly saturated right across the country, particularly in the east. But also that’s just been topped up over the pre-Christmas period. That rainfall from this week has just added to that, so there’s really nowhere for the water to go. The ground is completely saturated so in that situation we get more flooding and greater impacts than we’ve seen and probably in areas where people aren’t used to.”
Here are the latest images coming across the wires:
The highest rainfall totals recorded on Thursday were 35.2mm at Otterbourne in Hampshire, with a wide range of 20-30mm across much of the southern counties of England.
The Environment Agency said the impact of surface water and river flooding would continue to be “significant” across parts of England over the next five days.
Train companies have also been affected by the deluge, with Great Western Railway warning that several lines remain closed due to flooding, including between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, Reading and Castle Cary, and Liskeard and Looe in Cornwall.
A landslip at Arlesey in Bedfordshire was also affecting Thameslink services.
Hundreds of flood warnings remain in place across England
While the worst of the rain has passed, the Environment Agency still has more than 300 flood warnings in place across England.
There are also more than 330 flood alerts.
Flood warnings are for areas where flooding is expected. Flood alerts are for areas where flooding is possible but less likely.
There are also 13 flood warnings in place for Wales.
You can check for warnings and alerts near you on the Environment Agency website.
Seventy firefighters called in to help with Hackney flooding
Ten fire engines and around 700 firefighters were called to flooding in Hackney, east London, overnight after a canal burst its banks.
The London Fire Brigade says 10 acres of properties were affected.
Around 50 people were led to safety.
Station commander Dan Capon, who was at the scene, said:
Firefighters worked through the night to ensure the scene was safe and evacuated a number of people from surrounding buildings.
We urged people to avoid the area where possible. Remember – if your property is affected by flooding, move to a higher level where possible.
Significant impact of flooding possible across England today – Environment Agency
The Environment Agency has said “significant surface water and river flooding impacts” could continue today.
The EA’s Stefan Laeger said:
Significant surface water and river flooding impacts are possible across parts of the Midlands and the south and east of England on Thursday and Friday due to heavy localised rainfall falling on already very saturated catchments.
Ongoing minor impacts are also likely across much of England over the next five days as some larger rivers slowly respond to recent and forecast rain.
Showers will continue on Friday morning, according to forecasters, and are likely to affect parts of south-west and eastern England, Wales and areas in Scotland.
Storm Henk leaves flooded homes and roads across England
Steven Morris
Heavy flooding continued across parts of England on Thursday as a major incident was declared in Nottinghamshire and communities in Gloucestershire were left almost totally surrounded by water.
With the wind and heavy rain of Storm Henk expected to continue sweeping across the UK through the night, people were forced out of their homes in Shrewsbury, while parts of Worcester city centre were under water and emergency planners warned people in at-risk areas along the River Trent to make preparations in case they needed to evacuate. Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire was almost completely surrounded by flood water, with several roads cut off and authorities telling people who need to evacuate to make their way to a dedicated rest centre.
On Thursday evening there were still more than 550 flood warnings and alerts in place for England and Wales. The Environment Agency said about 450 properties had been flooded this week.
Stefan Laeger, a flood duty manager at the agency, said: “Significant surface water and river flooding impacts are possible across parts of the Midlands and the south and east of England on Thursday and Friday due to heavy localised rainfall falling on already very saturated catchments.
“Ongoing minor impacts are also likely across much of England over the next five days as some larger rivers slowly respond to recent and forecast rain.”
