Storm Bert: More flooding likely as further rainfall expected

More flooding is likely “this week” as the after-effects of Storm Bert are still being felt, the environment secretary has said, with more rain expected to fall today on sodden ground.

Across England, Wales and Scotland, 140 flood warnings are in place, while a severe “danger to life” warning remains in place for the River Nene in Northamptonshire after a holiday park was submerged for the third time this year.

Residents at Billing Aquadrome, where a major incident has been declared, slept at an evacuation centre overnight on Monday.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds brought by Storm Bert over the weekend led to at least five deaths, while homes, roads and rail networks faced major disruption.

While the storm will continue to pull away towards Scandinavia on Tuesday, showers are expected in south-east, south-west and north-west England, as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the impact of flooding “should be less severe”.

He told the Commons on Monday: “Further flooding is sadly likely over the next few days as water levels rise in slower flowing rivers such as the Severn and the Ouse.”

Flood warnings on Tuesday are particularly concentrated in Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and around south-west England.

Some residents of the Billing Aquadrome caravan park in Northamptonshire slept at a leisure centre overnight, while others opted to sleep in their cars.

Volunteers from humanitarian charity React offered those affected toothpaste and socks, while another charity cooked hot meals in the car park.

West Northamptonshire Council said it had helped 114 people, including 30 families with children.

Sam Craddock, who has lived in a lodge at the site for 15 years told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The sirens went off. We didn’t expect it to be this bad.

“It’s probably the third or fourth time we’ve been evacuated this year due to the flooding.

“[It’s] really bad out there.”

One man said a warning went off at about 03:45 GMT on Monday and “everyone had to get off the site”.

“It’s just not good, it’s not good at all,” he said.

BBC Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood said a band of rain will move northwards and eastwards into Tuesday evening and overnight “and as it does so, the wind is also going to strengthen”.

“Some of it will be heavy in areas where we haven’t had as much rain recently.”

Heavy rain is forecast from Essex to the Isle of Wight on Wednesday morning “where we could have another inch”, Kirkwood said.

The rain will push steadily eastwards with showers in north-east England and south-east Scotland on Wednesday, she added.

“The wind will be gusty through Lincolnshire, in through East Anglia into the South East,” Kirkwood said.

Winds in those areas could reach 50 to 55mph, she added.

The Met Office has faced criticism over insufficient warnings ahead of the storm making landfall.

While its services director Simon Brown said on Monday that “observed rainfall totals were broadly in line with the forecast and the severe weather warnings issued in advance”.

He said he was committed to “learning the lessons… to support even greater preparedness”.

In Chippenham, Wiltshire, a clean-up operation is taking place.

The water has dropped back, but there is a still a number of flood warnings in place.

The biggest issue at the moment is traffic, with a number of the roads around town centre closed off causing gridlock.

But three schools closed yesterday are due to reopen on Tuesday.

National Rail said on Tuesday that “various routes” in south-west England and Wales would continue to be impacted on Tuesday following disruption caused by Storm Bert.

It said it needed to remove debris from the line between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, which had been impacted by flooding.

Meanwhile, platform closures at Newbury due to “ongoing damage” caused by the storm meant Great Western Railway were reducing the number of trains running through the station on Tuesday, Network Rail said.

Five men died over the weekend as a result of the adverse weather.

North Wales Police confirmed a body was found after Brian Perry, a 75 year-old dogwalker, went missing near the River Conwy in Trefriw on Sunday.

Mohammed Wahid, a 34-year-old man whose car hit a wall in the snow in Shipley, West Yorkshire, died on Saturday.

Three other men died in road accidents on Saturday. A man died when his car was hit by a tree on the A34 at Winnall, Hampshire, and another man crashed on the A45 near Flore, Northamptonshire, during rush hour.

A third man, in his 80s, died after driving into a ford in Colne, Lancashire.