Britain braces for extra floods – and an Arctic blast

Commuters endured further travel chaos today after two months’ worth of rain fell in 48 hours as major flooding submerged cars, closed schools and blocked rail lines.

People were rescued from narrowboats in Northampton this morning after the River Nene burst its banks while at least 45 properties flooded across the Home Counties.

Train services continued to be impacted by flooding – with the Chiltern Railways line towards London blocked between Banbury and Bicester North in Oxfordshire, and Avanti West Coast trains impacted between Rugby and Milton Keynes Central.

London Northwestern Railway said its Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley would be suspended until at least this Sunday because of the deluge.

The Environment Agency had 32 warnings for ‘expected’ flooding and 95 alerts for ‘possible’ flooding in place for England today – including six across Greater London.

It comes after parts of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire endured more than 100mm (4in) of rain in 48 hours – with Woburn in Bedfordshire suffering 132mm (5.2in), more than twice the amount of its September average rainfall.

The National Grid said it had seen a week’s worth of power cuts across the weekend.

Drier but noticeably cooler conditions were forecast widely today, although Scotland and northern England will face isolated heavy showers with a chance of thunder.

The Met Office said further weather warnings were ‘unlikely’, but did point ahead towards a brief cold snap which is expected to arrive by the end of this week.

Several schools remained closed today due to flooding – including two in Gloucester – Hatherley Infant School and The Milestone School.

Stephen Dowell, headteacher at The Milestone School, told parents: ‘It is with great regret I have to inform you that due to severe flooding caused by Friday’s torrential rain, The Milestone School will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Thank you for your understanding and support during this challenging time.’

Four schools in Oxfordshire were also closed due to flooding today – St James Church of England Primary School in Hanney; St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Kidlington; Wheatley Park School in Holton; and Greyfriars Catholic School in Cowley.

National Highways said it expected the A421 in Bedfordshire to remain closed today in both directions between A6 Bedford and M1 J13 near Marston Moretaine due to severe flooding, and that it ‘cannot provide a timeline for the road to reopen’.

The northbound A5 between the A421 in Bletchley and Great Holm at Milton Keynes was closed by rising water levels this morning after one lane had been opened overnight.

Today’s AFC Wimbledon and Newcastle’s Carabao Cup third-round match has been postponed after a sinkhole appeared on the saturated pitch at Cherry Red Records Stadium in Wimbledon, South West London.

Given the state of the pitch and the repair work required, the match has instead been moved to Newcastle’s St James’ Park and will now take place on Tuesday, October 1.

Parts of England hit by flash flooding are now set for some respite with much drier weather today, although maximum temperatures are expected to rise no higher than the mid-teens.

Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: ‘There may be odd, heavier bursts just clipping the South East as a system does slowly start to move away, but it’s a much drier day for most people.

‘There is going to be some isolated showers here and there, but they’re going to be very light, nothing like the torrential rain that we’ve seen over the last couple of days.’

River levels should start to decrease to more manageable levels elsewhere towards the end of the day as more water seeps into the ground.

The shift to drier conditions in southern areas will also signal a slight dip in temperatures.

‘As the system that we have had moves its way off towards the east, we start to get a bit more of a northerly flow so we’re bringing in that cooler northerly winds,’ Mr Eslick said.

‘The winds aren’t going to be strong at all, but with the direction that it is coming in, there will be a bit more of a fresher feel.’

A gradual lowering of temperatures will continue through tomorrow and Thursday but it is unlikely any frost will develop with plenty of cloud around.

Yesterday, commuters faced major travel disruption with four London Underground lines and the Overground part-suspended due to the flooding.

The road network around London Luton Airport was left inaccessible by the flooding for a time yesterday, although an airport spokesman said this disruption lasted ‘for less than 30 minutes’ and the hub was ‘open and fully operational’.

London Fire Brigade said its 999 control officers took around 350 calls to flooding across the capital – attending 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.

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

And the RAC called on drivers to take ‘extreme care’ and avoid driving through water deeper than 10cm (0.3ft).

Rain warnings were in place all weekend, although the final yellow alert covering much of England expired at 11.59pm last night.