Flash floods hit parts of Britain as month’s worth of rain to fall in 24 hours

Heavy rainfall has seen parts of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and London submerged – causing widespread travel disruption and damage to properties.

According to the Environment Agency, at least 45 properties have flooded across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Kent and the Home Counties.

As of 6pm on Monday, 20 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – had been issued for England by the Environment Agency.

Areas affected by the flood warnings include Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard and Luton in Bedfordshire – and areas surrounding the River Medway and its tributaries in Kent.

National Highways confirmed the A421 in Bedfordshire was closed in both directions between A6 Bedford and M1 J13 near Marston Moretaine and the A5 in Buckinghamshire was closed northbound between the A421 Bletchley/Stadium MK and the A509 at Milton Keynes due to flooding.

A spokesperson for the RAC called on drivers to take “extreme care” and avoid driving through water deeper than 10cm.

Some schools in Bedfordshire have also closed, with an update on Central Bedfordshire Council’s website citing water ingress/flooding as being the reason for the closure.

The London Underground’s District Line is not running between Turnham Green and Richmond due to flooding caused by heavy rain, while other Tube lines in London had also earlier been partly suspended.

London Fire Brigade said its 999 control officers have taken around 350 calls to flooding across the capital.

Firefighters have attended incidents in areas such as Ruislip, Uxbridge, Wimbledon and Carshalton.

The service said these included rescuing people trapped in cars, assisting people from their homes and responding to flooding in underground stations, roadways, residences and commercial properties.

AFC Wimbledon and Newcastle’s Carabao Cup third-round meeting on Tuesday has been called off due to “extensive overnight flooding” at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

The Dons’ stadium, which also appears to have a sinkhole in the pitch, is now closed as a result, with a rescheduled date for the tie yet to be confirmed.

Rain warnings were in place all weekend with a fresh yellow alert coming into effect at midnight to last all of Monday, covering parts of Wales, much of the south of England, the Midlands and into north-west England and Yorkshire.

An amber warning came into force at 5am and will last until 11.59pm.

It initially covered Worcester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Hull, but an update from the Met Office said the warning area had shifted further south and south west. This includes Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire.

Some affected areas will see 60-80mm of rain through Monday – while a few places could see in excess of 120mm, the Met Office said.

Forecasters also said there may be more warnings in the week ahead.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey previously told the PA news agency that Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and up towards the Wash and the Humber could see more than a month’s worth of rain falling on Monday.

Environment Agency flood duty manager Sarah Cook said “persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms” could lead to some property flooding and travel disruption.

She said: “Persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms could lead to significant surface water flooding on Monday across parts of England.

“The impacts could include localised flooding in urban areas and fast-responding catchments, including some property flooding as well as travel disruption. The risk from river flooding remains low.

“We urge people to plan their journeys carefully, follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

Dozens of people rushed to a farm in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire to save animals on Sunday evening after it was hit by flooding.

Joanna Johnson told PA how her miniature ponies had to swim out of the flood water and the sheep were dragged through to safety, as members of the community and emergency services were helping at the farm until about 4am.

She said: “Yesterday it was like a river coming off the A421 and then the pond burst and within 15 minutes the entire farm was under water.

“I put a message out online and the villagers flocked here so fast.

“I felt so helpless.

“The animals are alive at the moment, I’m now desperately trying to find a piece of land I can leave them on over the winter where they will be safe.”

A man from Northamptonshire described the moment he saw a “wave of water” heading towards him during flooding on Sunday night.

Tim Maher and his partner Carol Findon, from Grendon, saw their two-storey home partially submerged overnight with more than a foot of water.

Mr Maher told PA: “I decided to drive down to the bridge and saw the water breaking the banks and coming down the road towards me.

“I quickly turned around, drove home and put up a flood barrier we’ve got up against the door. It kept out a lot of the water but we’ve had about an inch overnight.

“We haven’t had much sleep and at least eight houses on our road have been impacted. It would be nice to get a permanent solution to this problem.”