Floods latest: UK warned of more flooding this week with rivers set to rise today as Storm Bert wreaks havoc on trains after leaving homes and roads under water

A major incident has been declared in Northamptonshire this afternoon as a result of flooding.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said it expected to carry out boat rescues for the rest of the day with some residents remaining at Billing Aquadrome, a holiday park forced to evacuate.

In a statement it said:

Flood sirens were sounded in the morning at Billing Aquadrome and agencies assisted the management of the park in evacuating the site. However, some people remain at the location, which is cut off from access, and Northamptonshire.

People waded through deep water on Monday to escape the flooding, holding carrier bags containing their belongings.

Stan Brown, 67, who has lived on the Billing Aquadrome park for 25 years, said he has “had enough” and felt he had no choice but to move away.

I’ve got somewhere else to go but I’m one of the few. Other people have spent their life savings to buy a place on there, and now they’ve got nowhere else to go.

Around 1,000 people have been affected by the evacuation.

West Northamptonshire Council has set up a rest centre at Lings Forum Leisure Centre for residents displaced by the flooding which is currently looking after 84 people.

Storm Bert is slowly moving away from the UK as it drifts away from northeast Scotland today.

But blustery conditions will continue this afternoon with coastal gales in the north along with showers.

Here’s the Met Office forecast for the rest of the week:

Clear spells and further rain or showers across northern and western areas overnight. Largely dry elsewhere with the odd fog patch possible. Winds easing away from the far north.

Showers continuing across northern and western coasts, but many areas dry with plenty of sunshine. Cold in the north, but temperatures near average further south.

• Wednesday to Friday

Rain and possibly strong winds moving across southern areas Wednesday. Otherwise becoming largely dry and settled, although rain may move into the far west at times, especially on Friday. Colder.

If you’re just joining us this afternoon, we have been reporting live updates on flooding across the UK after a weekend of heavy rain, high winds and snow brought by Storm Bert.

Here’s the main takeaways this afternoon:

• Hundreds of places across England and Wales remain braced for flood with one severe flood warning in place in Northamptonshire
• The Billing Aquadrome, a flood-hit caravan park, has been forced to evacuate after residents’ homes were submerged following a devastating deluge of rain
• According to the Environment Agency, localised flooding is expected across parts Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Northamptonshire today, while it is possible in other parts of the West Midlands
• Meanwhile, Chippenham town centre has been cut off by floods with surrounding roads impassable after the River Avon burst its banks
• In Worcestershire, residents have started a clean up operation while police are investigating videos circulating on social media of a tractor being driven through floodwaters
• Travel disruption has been widespread with many rail operators running reduced services or cancelling them as a result of flooded tracks

A clear up is underway in Tenbury Wells

Residents cleaning up inside The Hair Shop after flooding in Tenbury Wells

Locals in Tenbury Wells have been ‘banding together really, really well’ in the wake of floods which damaged businesses in the town centre, a resident has said.

Parts of Tenbury town centre in Worcestershire were flooded by the Kyre Brook on Sunday after a wall reportedly collapsed.

Louise Preston, 20, who co-owns pottery shop Pitter Potter with her mother, said:

People are banding together really, really well. Our business, personally, has not suffered anywhere near as badly as it could have done.

She said the business had lost a window, adding: ‘What has been really heart-warming to see is the community spirit.

We’ve had police support officers down, the firemen were marvellous yesterday, Tesco has been giving people free cleaning materials, the cafes – who themselves have suffered – have been donating free tea and coffee to everybody. As a town we seem to be coping quite well.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the UK’s flood defences are in the ‘worst condition on record’ but added the Government has committed £2.4 billion to upgrade them.

This Government inherited from the previous government flood defences that are in the worst condition on record.

Now we’ve allocated in the budget £2.4 billion to upgrade our flood defences, better maintain those we already have, build new flood defences to keep people safe.

That will make a difference and that’s what we need to do to cope much better with the impact of climate change that we’re seeing with these floods.

Asked how quickly the improvements will happen, Mr Reed said:

Well, there’s already work under way today. We’re allocating more money this winter and next year to upgrade those flood defences faster, but as I say, £2.4 billion over the next two years, that is a lot of upgrade work, and it will help to keep more people safe from floods as we keep getting this kind of weather.

A flood-hit caravan park has been forced to evacuate after residents’ homes were submerged following a ‘devastating’ deluge of rain brought by Storm Bert.

Hundreds of flood warnings remain in place after the storm brought 82mph winds, snow and a month’s worth of rain, leaving at least five people dead in its wake.

More than 400 flood alerts or warnings were issued across Britain today – including 206 alerts and 157 warnings in England; and 29 alerts and ten warnings in Wales.

In England, a severe flood warning, meaning there is danger to life, was issued for Billing Aquadrome and surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton.

Read more here:

Media personality Christine Hamilton said Storm Bert has brought the worst flooding in two decades to where they live in Wiltshire after her kitchen had at least two inches of water through it.

Mrs Hamilton, who came third in the first series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2002, shared footage on social media of her husband former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton bailing water out of their home in Hullavington on Sunday evening.

‘We were literally bailing out water constantly for three hours, just to try and keep the level down to what it was,’ Mrs Hamilton told the PA news agency.

‘We had two inches of water in the back kitchen, and then if we stopped bailing for two seconds, the water would climb even further.”

Mrs Hamilton said some friends attempted to bring the couple a pump to help them remove the water, but it was “impossible” to reach the house due to the flooding.

‘We’ve been here 20 years, and we’ve never had ever, ever had flooding before… we’ve had so much rain over the last weeks and months that the ground is waterlogged, and when Bert arrived, it just couldn’t cope,” she said.

According to the BBC, 57 children and a driver were rescued from a school bus in Evesham, Worcestershire, during the morning run.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service reportedly used two boats to help pupils from Prince Henry’s High School escape from the bus which became stuck on the B4080, near Eckington Bridge.

In a statement provided to the BBC, the school said the bus ‘left the road and ended up in a ditch with floodwater around it’.

Head teacher Dr Anthony Evans said: ‘We have been informed by the police officer in charge at the scene that none of the students are injured, nobody requires first aid, and they are safe and well’.

As of 12pm, there remains one severe flood warning in Northamptonshire which has led to the evacuation of the Billing Aquadrome holiday park (pictured) as well as 138 flood warnings and 166 alerts.

According to the Environment Agency, localised flooding is expected across parts Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Northamptonshire today, while it is possible in other parts of the West Midlands.

The website reads:

Properties will flood and there will be travel disruption. Ongoing local flooding from rivers is also expected in parts of Oxfordshire, probable in parts of the Midlands and possible more widely across the Midlands and the South of England and today and tomorrow.

Further local flooding from rivers and surface water is possible across parts of England on Wednesday. Land, roads and some properties will flood and there will be travel disruption.

Hundreds of flood warnings remain in place this morning after Storm Bert brought 82mph winds, snow and a month’s worth of rain, leaving at least five people dead in its wake.

More than 400 flood alerts or warnings were issued across Britain today – including 206 alerts and 157 warnings in England; and 29 alerts and ten warnings in Wales. There were three severe flood warnings, while Scotland had four warnings in place.

The storm initially brought blizzards when it barrelled in over the weekend – but flurries were quickly swept away as up to three quarters of a month’s rain turned rivers into torrents, flooding homes, causing transport disruption and power cuts.

• Read the full story by Elizabeth Haigh here

West Mercia Police said it was aware of videos circulating on social media showing a tractor driving through flood water in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, on Sunday, allegedly causing damage to local premises.

Many business owners in the town have said waves caused by the tractor smashed windows of already-flood-hit premises and worsened flooding in some areas protected by sandbags.

A police statement said:

We’re actively investigating the incident and officers are in Tenbury Wells this morning speaking to people whose businesses and properties may have been affected, as well as reviewing additional video footage.

No arrests have been made at this time. We will provide further updates when we are able to.

Here is the scene this morning in Cwmtillery, a former mining community in Blaenau Gwent, where a mudslide saw residents evacuated from their homes over the weekend.

Photographs show one man wading through deep sludge following an apparent landslip.

Residents told how they were forced to leave their homes and take refuge in a local leisure centre after the street became filled with mud on Sunday night.

Welsh Water has issued a ‘boil water’ notice to customers in 10 areas in South Wales, advising that their tap water may be contaminated because of flooding and must be boiled until further notice.

The areas affected include: Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm, Tynewydd, Treherbert, Treorchy, Cwm-parc, Pentre, Ton Pentre, Gelli, Tonypandy

Devastating spells of heavy rain, high winds and snow brought to the UK by Storm Bert has resulted in huge disruption for rail passengers today with many routes across the country affected by flooding.

Here’s a list of all the operators that have been affected with details of the services that may be subject to delays and cancellations.

Avanti services on the West Coast line between Birmingham New Street and London Euston may be cancelled or revised because heavy rain has flooded the railway in the Northampton area, means some lines are blocked.

Trains running between Banbury and Bicester North will be run at reduced speed on all lines because of heavy flooding meaning services may be delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

• CrossCountry

Services between Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St Davids have been disrupted because of flooding and no rail replacement services are available.

Great Western Railway said it has suspended services on ‘all key routes’ due to flooding and fallen trees. The operator’s network runs between London Paddington and both south-west England and south Wales.

Trains between Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness have been disrupted because heavy rain has flooded the railway.

Speed restrictions are in place on several routes including Aberdeen and Inverness, Ayr and Edinburgh, Carlisle and Glasgow Central and Edinburgh and Perth meaning journeys will take longer

Southern will be running fewer trains during this morning meaning there could be disruption across the network

• Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales are also advising passengers not to travel this morning with disruption to several routes including Pontypridd – Treherbert / Aberdare / Merthyr Tydfil, Shrewsbury to Newport (South Wales) and Llanhilleth – Ebbw Vale Town because of flooding.

This is the moment a tractor driver today sent a ‘wave of floodwater’ crashing through shop windows.

Locals were left livid and labelled the inconsiderate driver a ‘t***er’ for causing a torrent of brown water to drench businesses in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.

Owners had valiantly fought to keep the waters out of their shops but saw their hard work wiped out in an instant with one person saying he had ‘bankrupted Tenbury’.

The town was left submerged earlier today when the nearby Kyre Brook rose and caused a wall to collapse amid Storm Bert which has devastated large parts of Britain.

The clip shows a green tractor come speeding around a corner and motor down the middle of the town centre.

See the video below and read the full story by Matt Strudwick here

Northamptonshire has been hit by ‘significant’ overnight flooding resulting in the evacuation of the Billing Aquadrome holiday park.

A severe flood warning is in place in the country near the park after the River Nene burst its banks.

In an update posted date, authorities in the county say a multi-agency response is under way to help people impacted by Storm Bert.

In a statement, they said:

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and Northamptonshire Police have received a very high number of calls overnight from people requesting help due to flooding, both in properties and on roads. These issues are quite widespread across the county, including particularly in Towcester, Weedon, Lower Harlestone and the St Andrews Road area of Northampton.

Billing Aquadrome flood sirens have sounded and the holiday park is being evacuated by the management with assistance from Northamptonshire Search and Rescue and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Flooding over the weekend saw hundreds of homes left under water while roads were turned into rivers.

Here’s some of the most eye-catching pictures to show you from the weekend.

Young farmers near Newton Abbot waterski along a submerged road

Flooding took place across the Devon countryside after heavy rain

People pour water out of the front garden of properties in Pontypridd, Wales

Winter Wonderland will open this morning at 10am after the festive-themed attraction in London’s Hyde Park was shut on Sunday amid high winds from Storm Bert.

Gusts of 53mph were recorded in the capital yesterday prompting the Royal Parks deciding to shut its eight sites on safety grounds.

The parks will reopen on Monday subject to a delayed opening following a safety inspection.

But Winter Wonderland say this has not affected its operation with doors set to open at 10am.

We are seeing reports that Chippenham in Wiltshire has been hit by severe floods this morning after the River Avon burst its banks.

Local police have said the town centre is not passable as pictures shared on social media show high water levels have deluged roads.

We will bring you more updates as and when we can.

National Highways said the A5 in Northamptonshire is closed in both directions between the A43 (Towcester) and A422/A508 (Old Stratford) due to ‘severe flooding’ in the area.

Specialist contractors are working at the scene to clear the flood water from the carriageway.

The M32 in Bristol was closed in both directions between Junction 1 (Stoke Gifford) and Junction 19 (M4) from late on Sunday night.

It was fully reopened at around 5am on Monday.

The A66 between North Yorkshire and Cumbria was closed to high-sided and other vulnerable vehicles in both directions between the A1M (Scotch Corner) and the M6 due to strong winds, but the restriction was lifted at around 6.30am.

This is the shocking moment a town centre flooded after a brook rose and caused a wall to collapse amid Storm Bert.

The middle of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, was seen submerged in water after the nearby Kyre Brook filled up and caused chaos.

Rescue workers in the town can be heard urging people to ‘get back’ as the floods dramatically spread.

Locals were left livid and labelled the inconsiderate driver a ‘t***er’ for causing a torrent of brown water to drench businesses in the town.

• See the video below and read the full story by Katherine Lawton and Matt Strudwick here

Storm Bert claimed five lives this weekend – the latest being a man in his 80s who died after his car entered water at a ford on Cockhill Lane in Foulridge, Lancashire, on Saturday.

Yesterday rescuers found the body of a pensioner reported missing after going to walk his dog near the swollen River Conwy in North Wales, 24 hours earlier.

Police divers and mountain rescue volunteers had scoured the banks of the river near Trefriw to search for Brian Perry, 75, before making the tragic discovery. He was visiting the area and his wife raised the alarm after he failed to return from the walk.

There were three deaths on the roads on Saturday – including Mohammed Wahid, 34, whose car hit a wall in the heavy snow in Shipley, West Yorkshire, just before 1pm.

A man in his 60s died when his Mercedes was hit by a tree on the A34 at Winnall, Hampshire. And a man in his 40s died on the A45 near Flore, Northamptonshire.

Great Western Railway said it has suspended services on ‘all key routes’ due to flooding and fallen trees.

The operator’s network runs between London Paddington and both south-west England and south Wales.

GWR has suspended train services on all key routes after flooding and fallen trees have blocked access at key locations on the Great Western network.

We’re sorry for the disruption to journeys. Network Rail and GWR teams are working hard across the network and will carry out inspections to reopen lines as quickly as possible.

Disruption is expected to last until at least the end of the day on Monday.

In England there is currently 160 flood warnings in place, which means floods are expected, and 206 flood alerts, meaning it is possible.

There is also one severe flood warning for the River Nene in Northamptonshire near the Billing Aquadrome which warns of a danger to life.

Here’s a map of all the warnings and alerts across the country.

The Met Office forecast that rain in the south-east of England will clear on Monday but blustery showers could stick around for the north-west.

All of the forecaster’s rain warnings ended on Sunday but strong winds persist and rain from high ground will reach rivers, which could disrupt clean-up efforts.

A yellow wind warning remains in place for much of central and western Scotland until 10am, with gusts of up to 70mph likely in exposed areas.

Rail passengers have been urged not to travel between Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Stansted Airport after multiple fallen trees damaged the electrical overhead wires, with no trains expected to run until 2pm.

London Northwestern Railway reported that no rail services would operate through Northampton station due to the River Nene bursting its banks.

Southern, which runs rail services across the south-east of England, said some services on Monday will be cancelled or revised because of forecast severe weather, including on its London network and the West Coastway between Havant and Southampton.

Great Western Railways advised passengers not to travel on many of its major lines to London Paddington including Penzance, Bristol Temple Meads, Swindon, Reading and Worcester.

Storm Bert is bringing further widespread disruption with public transport badly affected after “devastating” flooding over the weekend.

Several rail operators have cancelled services on Monday while more than 180 flood warnings remain in place.

Hundreds of homes were left under water, roads were turned into rivers and winds of more than 80mph were recorded across parts of the UK.

Two severe flood warnings, meaning there is danger to life, have been issued for the River Monnow in south-east Wales for Monmouth and Skenfrith, after a major incident was declared in the nearby Rhondda Cynon Taf region on Sunday.

In England, a severe flood warning has been issued for Billing Aquadrome and surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton.

More than 150 flood warnings and more than 200 flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency in England, with a further 22 flood warnings and 36 flood alerts in place in Wales.