More rain is on the way after flooding causes weekend disruption

Flooding across England and Wales has hit transport networks and forced a number of events to be cancelled.

More rain is expected on Monday and Tuesday, with yellow weather warnings issued for parts of western England and Wales.

This means some homes could be flooded and bus and train services could be affected.

The Environment Agency has issued 61 localised flood warnings across England and Wales, plus 169 alerts for possible flooding.

This includes a flood warning for the Thames in the early hours of Monday morning.

Advertisement

The north of the country was forecast up to 70mm of rain in 24 hours on Sunday, leaving parts of the transport networks struggling to cope.

Northern Rail warned passengers to expect delays and cancellations, with no service between Sheffield and Manchester due to water on the tracks.

More from Wales

Trains in Blackpool, Preston and Cheshire were also among the worst hit.

Speed restrictions were put in place across much of Northern Rail’s network over safety concerns.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended nearly 20 incidents over a few hours, many of which were flooding-related.

Motorists were warned to avoid a number of roads and urged not to attempt to drive through flood water.

In Lancashire, the River Ribble burst its banks and flooded adjacent fields and roads.

The Men’s Elite Road Race in Yorkshire went ahead despite the heavy weather, but the route had to be amended to skip some of the most scenic parts of the Upper Dales.

However the inaugural Regatta London race, due to take place on the River Thames on Sunday, had to be cancelled.

Organisers said the stormy weather had affected the river’s water quality and raw sewage had spilled into the water.

Alex Burkill, a meteorologist with the Met Office, said: “Monday is going to start off pretty fine for most places, however a system is going to come in through the day reaching southwest England and Wales by 10am tomorrow morning and spreading eastwards as we go through the day.

“By evening rush hour, much of England and Wales will be pretty wet.”

Some areas could see another 70mm of rain.

It will be much drier and brighter in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Source : Sky News : http://news.sky.com/story/flooding-causes-weekend-disruption-and-more-rain-is-on-the-way-11823435