Flood-hit caravan park is pressured to evacuate after Storm Bert washout: Residents flee submerged cellular properties as ‘devastating’ deluge brings month’s price of rain

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. 

The Aquadrome’s caravan park was forced to evacuate 1,000 people early this morning after it was totally submerged by the highest floodwater in 35 years. They left the park at 3.30am – with caravans now surrounded by 6ft (1.8m)-deep water.

Northamptonshire Police has warned against ‘all unnecessary travel’, and several railway operators have cancelled services while roads also remain closed. 

A major clean-up operation was underway in towns and villages across the UK, with parts of South Wales suffering mudslides and road collapses in Northern Ireland.

Bert has claimed five lives – 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. 

Rescuers yesterday 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 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 advised travellers not to use any of its services this morning, including routes to London Gatwick, after it suspended all trains on key routes. The operator’s network runs between London Paddington and the South West.

It said: ‘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. Customers are advised not to travel and check for the latest updates and GWR.com.’

There is also major disruption on Greater Anglia, Stansted Express and South Western Railway routes, with minor disruptions for Avanti West Coast, Northern Rail and West Midlands Railway.

Transport for Wales said all services between Pontypridd and Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil were currently cancelled with disruption expected throughout Monday. 

On the roads, 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. 

Speaking today, Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the Government was allocating more money this winter to upgrade flood defences faster.

He said: ‘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.’

Mr Reed added the Government would ‘stand ready to offer whatever further support we can’ for those worst affected in Wales.

As the rain fell in Wales over the weekend, residents of riverside homes in Pontypridd grabbed buckets, bins and any other containers they could find to bail water from their properties.

Two severe flood warnings, meaning there is danger to life, issued for the River Monnow in south-east Wales for Monmouth and Skenfrith, have now been lifted.

Weather warnings remained in place yesterday, as further rain fell in South Wales and Southern England, with winds gusting at 50 to 60mph.

It followed Saturday’s strongest winds of 82mph at Capel Curig, Snowdonia, and 78mph on the Isle of Wight.

Royal Parks took the unusual step of closing all nine parks in London yesterday – including Hyde Park, which is currently hosting the Winter Wonderland event – due to ‘inclement weather’.

At Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, a dramatic video showed the moment the town flooded after the nearby Kyre Brook rose and caused a wall to collapse. Rescue workers were heard urging people to ‘get back’ as water gushed through the streets. 

A tractor was later pictured driving through several feet of floodwater, with local businesses blaming the driver for smashed windows. 

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.’

Elsewhere Heroic young father Andre Randles pulled his 11-month-old son from the window of his sinking Volkswagen hatchback in Todmorden, West Yorkshire – with seconds to spare before his car was dragged below the water after the River Calder burst its banks on Saturday.

Mr Randles’s girlfriend, marketing manager Paige Newsome, said: ‘[It was] such a scary experience for Andre having to pull himself and our 11-month-old baby out of the car windows, while the water was flooding in.’

Ms Newsome, who also had to flee the car, said her builder boyfriend had driven into the flooded road because it looked like shallow water – before being surprised by a sudden dip.

She added she ‘dreaded to think’ what would have happened if Mr Randles ‘hadn’t thought fast enough’.

 The last of the Met Office’s rain warnings ended at 11.59pm last night but strong winds persist and rain from high ground will reach rivers, which could disrupt clean-up efforts.

Looking ahead to today, Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: ‘The day ahead is generally a mixture of sunny spells and showers.’

Frequent showers are expected in Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England, Wales and the West Country, with sunnier, drier weather across parts of the Midlands and south-east England, he continued.

It will be ‘a pretty windy afternoon’ across the country, with gusts of around 30mph to 40mph which may reach 50mph in parts of Scotland, Mr Dewhurst added.

London and south-east England will experience a top temperature of 11C, with highs of 7C expected in Scotland.

Into the evening, further showers are expected across the country with longer spells of rain and snow on high ground in Scotland, Mr Dewhurst added.

South Wales will be counting the cost of the storm after a major incident was declared in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region yesterday amid fears of a more significant impact than during Storm Dennis in 2020.

Between 200 and 300 properties in the area were affected by flooding, with local leaders expressing surprise at the extent of the rainfall.

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said it had been ‘a really difficult weekend’.

She said: ‘I think this is the second time that many of those have suffered as a result of the storm.

‘There’s been huge investments since the last storm hit, so we’ve managed to protect lots more properties than last time.

‘But obviously this is absolutely devastating just before Christmas for those people who have been impacted.’

At a press conference in Pontypridd yesterday afternoon, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council leader Andrew Morgan said he was ‘amazed’ that only a yellow weather warning had been issued by the Met Office.

‘On Saturday we were preparing for the possibility of an amber warning,’ he said.

‘It didn’t come but we took the decision ourselves to step up our resources and have depots open and crews in.

‘I am surprised there wasn’t a red warning issued. During Storm Dennis we saw an amber warning in advance and a red warning issued in the early hours. I do think that will need to be reviewed shortly.’

Residents of southeast Wales have been told today to ‘boil water’ in 10 areas in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

In an advisory Wales Water is warning its customers not to drink tap water, use it to prepare food, clean teeth or prepare baby feeds without boiling it first. Tap water can be used to flush toilets and to wash or bathe, the company adds.

Affected areas include: Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm, Tynewydd, Treherbert, Treorchy, Cwm-parc, Pentre, Ton Pentre, Gelli and Tonypandy.

Rail passengers have been urged not to travel between Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Stansted Airport after multiple fallen trees damaged the electrical overhead wires. Major disruption is expected until 2pm today.

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

Services across other rail companies could start later than normal as tracks which were flooded or hit by fallen trees are inspected.

Last night, some major roads were closed due to the ongoing impacts of flooding.

The Fire Service and South Gloucestershire Council have reported flooding across several areas of the region.

Flooded roads include the A431 around Bath Road in Swineford, Shire Way Yate and adjacent roads, St Johns Way in Chipping Sodbury and adjacent roads, Stidcot Lane in Tytherington, Perrinpitt Lane in Bristol, and Old Gloucester Road in Winterbourne.

The M32 in Bristol was closed northbound between J1 near Hambrook and the M4 J19, and the A49 in Shropshire and Herefordshire was closed in both directions between Ludlow and Holmer.

In Northampton, police advised motorists to avoid the following Storm Bert-related road closures on Monday: Andrew’s Road and its surrounding areas, St James’ Park Road along Victoria Park, Dallington close to the brook, London Road/Bridge Street in Far Cotton, and Bedford Road.

Also in Northampton, London Northwestern Railway reports that no rail services will operate to and from Northampton Station.

There is also no road access to the station, so rail replacement buses will be unable to run.

Thameslink reports a points failure has occurred between Herne Hill and Tulse Hill with all lines in this area disrupted with delays and possible diversions or route alterations possible on Monday.

Some 350,000 homes in England lost power during the storm, though most have since been reconnected.

More than 300 flights set to depart from UK airports were cancelled during Storm Bert, aviation analytics firm Cirium said.

Heathrow Airport was worst affected, with crosswinds of up to 40mph causing disruption to departures and arrivals on Sunday.

Simon Brown, services director at the Met Office, said: ‘Our thoughts are with those who are currently affected with the impacts caused by Storm Bert in South Wales, as well as the rest of the country.

‘As always with a named storm, a full assessment of the forecast and warning strategy will take place with our partners.

‘But this assessment is carried out post-event, therefore I would expect this to take place over the coming days.

‘Storm Bert was well forecast, 48 hours in advance, with a number of warnings in place ahead of the system reaching the UK.

‘We work closely with partners to assess the potential risks of extreme weather and the warnings covering Wales highlighted the potential for homes and businesses to flood with fast-flowing or deep floodwater possible, causing a danger to life.’

Yesterday, large rainfall accumulations were seen, with some places experiencing an excess of 130mm (5in) in the last 24 hours.

In some more exposed areas, wind gusts of over 75 miles per hour were experienced.

Heavy snow also fell on Saturday, with five inches in Leek, Staffordshire, and more than two inches in Bingley, West Yorkshire. 

Bert is the second named storm of the season after the 100mph Storm Ashley on October 20-21.

Sir Keir Starmer said he has spoken to Ms Morgan about the flooding in Wales and added that he was receiving updates on Storm Bert as it developed.