Schools closed and trains disrupted as flooding hits UK

Flash flooding forced schools to shut and disrupted trains after a fortnight’s worth of rain fell in an hour in some areas early on Monday.

An amber weather warning covering parts of southern and central England including Oxford, Bristol and Northampton is in place until 9pm on Monday.

Schools across Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Hertfordshire were forced to shut, while several rail routes were disrupted.

Southeastern Railway said only “a very limited service” would run from Hastings, East Sussex, towards London because of heavy rain flooding the railway at Wadhurst. Other rail services reporting weather-related disruption included Great Northern, Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink.

There was no service on the Bakerloo Line between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone, on the District Line between Turnham Green and Richmond, and on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge.

The London Overground was also suspended between South Acton and Richmond and Euston and Watford Junction.

Also in London, the Carabo Cup football match between AFC Wimbledon and Newcastle, due to be played on Tuesday, was postponed after the downpours caused flooding at Wimbledon’s stadium.

London Fire Brigade said its 999 control officers had taken around 350 calls on 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.

The Environment Agency warned that “persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms” could disrupt travel and flood property across the country.

The Met Office urged people to avoid car journeys on potentially dangerous roads and not to drive, swim or walk through floodwater.

It said anyone living in a flood risk zone should consider parking their car in a safer area, storing their valuables high up and charging mobile phones.

The London Fire Brigade warned motorists against driving through flood water after it was called to rescue a partially submerged vehicle.

It wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “We attended this vehicle stranded in flood water overnight on Manor Road in Wallington. If you’re out on the roads today, please do not drive through floodwater.”

Some affected areas could see 100 to 120mm (four to five inches) of rain on Monday, and forecasters said there may be more warnings in the week ahead.

In Luton, Bedfordshire, flooding delayed some journeys to the airport on Sunday, and footage showed debris flying in a suspected mini-tornado.

Police said roads closures were in place across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire on Monday after “substantial flooding” overnight.

Bedfordshire Police said it had closed part of Dunstable High Street, with footage on social media showing cars driving through deep water. Central Bedfordshire council said flooding had hit Flitwick, Cranfield and Marston Moretaine.

A car got stuck in floodwater on the A421 in Marston Moretaine, with only its open boot showing above the flood, which was under a bridge and about 150 metres either side.

A local man, who did not want to be named, said he has lived in the area for 45 years and “never seen anything like it”. He said the flooded road was usually “very busy” with traffic but the “pumps just can’t take” the water.

A hairdresser was cleaning up mud from R&R Hair Services in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, on Monday morning after floodwater on High Street South reached knee height on Sunday.

Kirsty Brewer said: “This is the fourth time that it has happened in the last six or seven years, so we’ve got all the electricals up – we’re prepared. We know how to handle it. Because we are a listed building we’re not allowed a floodgate.

“The first time that it happened, it was thousands of pounds worth of damage. It happened last year – it’s like a once a year thing.”

Power cuts hit several areas of Nottingham overnight into Monday, but service had been restored by the morning.

Steve Willington, the Met Office chief neteorologist, said: “Following wet weather in recent days, rain, heavy at times is influencing today’s weather for much of England and parts of Wales.

“The higher totals are likely within the amber warning area, where some will see 60-80mm of rain through the day, while a few places could see in excess of 120mm.”

The average September rainfall across the UK is around 100mm (4in), meaning some areas could see more than a month’s worth of rain on Monday.

Sarah Cook, the Environment Agency flood duty manager, 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. Environment Agency teams are out on the ground and ready to support local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.

“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 (12in) of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

A man from Northamptonshire described the moment he saw a “wave of water” heading towards him on Sunday night. Tim Maher and his partner Carol Findon, from Grendon, saw their two-storey home partially submerged in more than a foot of water.

Mr Maher said: “I have an app on my phone which tracks river levels, and at around 8.45pm it rocketed up. 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.”

The rain came after a final burst of summer at the end of the last week as high pressure brought warmer than average temperatures. The autumn equinox on Sunday marked the end of summer and the start of autumn.

From Tuesday, the weather is expected to be more settled, but feel cooler and turn wet and windy from the middle of the week.