Nearly 140 flood alerts are in place in most parts of England and more than 80 flood warnings have been issued mainly in the South West and Midlands, as floods in most parts of the country led to several people being rescued from homes and roads. Torrential rain is expected to lash for Thursday evening, however, Friday is due to be a drier day.

A number of disruptions have been reported across the country which included school closures in Worcestershire, Devon and Gloucestershire. Somerset reported closure of school coach service after floods worsened condition of roads. Other Somerset update includes flooding of Hinkley Point power station.

Further disruptions were seen in rail services Gloucester, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Yeovil, Exeter, Birmingham International, Coventry, Great Malvern and Hereford. Tiverton Parkway and Birmingham New Street was also subjected to flooding. Train services in Bristol and Somerset were either diverted or remained cancelled. Similar was the case with bus services in both Bristol and Somerset which were either diverted or remained cancelled.

Last month saw torrential rains in Devon and Cornwall due to which now measures have been taken by placing sandbags at entrances to homes, in an effort to avoid a repeat of the damage caused earlier.

Weather forecasters have predicted that heavy rain will spread across the east of England while travelling to the South West. Andy Ratcliffe, from the MeteoGroup, said, “On Thursday there will be heavy persistent rain from the west. “Strong winds and rain will clear overnight on Thursday. There will be a few sunny spells and a few heavy showers on Friday. Later in the week the outlook remains scattered with heavy rain and chances of flooding.”

Related:
Flood warnings issued by Environment Agency; downpour across England, Wales