Flash floods and heavy rain batter England and Wales

Heavy rain and flash flooding has battered parts of England and Wales, causing widespread travel disruption and damage to properties.

Roads and houses have flooded in central and southern England, after some experienced a month’s worth of rain in a matter of hours.

In London, a sinkhole has appeared on AFC Wimbledon’s football pitch and 999 call handlers have taken 350 flood-related calls, while in Bedford a main road is totally submerged.

The Met Office amber weather warning is due to stay in force until 21:00 BST across parts of central and southern England.

The amber weather warning stretches from Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, though Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire and into parts of Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

A yellow weather warning for rain is in place across much of the rest of England until 23:59, with the exception of the far south-west and parts of northern England, and eastern Wales.

The Environment Agency has issued more than 20 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and more than 80 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.

Areas affected by the flood warnings include Leighton Buzzard and Luton in Bedfordshire and parts of London.

In the village of Grendon, in Northamptonshire, several houses were flooded with clean-up efforts ongoing.

“It was unbelievable,” Jon Sayle told the PA news agency, describing how about “two feet of water seeped in overnight” into his home.

He said neighbours were helping to clear water and debris, but added that he now has electrical problems, saying: “The sockets don’t work, the fridge isn’t working and there’s damage to the carpet and settees.”

Another Grendon resident, Tim Maher, and his partner Carol Findon saw their two-storey home partially submerged overnight with more than a foot (30cm) water.

Mr Mayer said they managed to put up a flood barrier against the door.

“It kept out a lot of the water but we’ve had about an inch overnight,” he said.

“We’ve had some damage to the carpets, settees and other furniture. The most difficult bit will be drying out the structure.”

On Monday afternoon the London Fire Brigade said its 999 control officers had taken some 350 flood-related calls, with firefighters rescuing people trapped inside cars, assisting people from their homes and responding to flooding in Underground stations and roads.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, using a photo of a car stranded in floodwater overnight in Wallington, Sutton, the fire brigade warned that “a foot of moving water at just 6mph is enough to float a car”.

Transport for London has warned passengers that the District, Circle, Metropolitan, Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Central lines have been either partly suspended or subject to minor to severe delays because of flooding caused by heavy rain.

National Rail is also reporting widespread disruption and cancellations to some train services throughout the day and has urged passengers to check their journeys.

In south-east England, a night of heavy rain forced the closure of an M25 slip road at Cobham in Surrey and led to delays on train services.

The A421 main road between Bedford and Milton Keynes has been shut because of flooding, as well as the rail line from from Bedford to Bletchley.

A number of schools in areas including Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire have been forced to close, with some switching to remote learning, and a number of homes and businesses have been flooded.

Meanwhile, aerial photos show that a sinkhole has appeared at the Cherry Red Records Stadium – home of AFC Wimbledon – and a walkway next to it has been flooded.

The football club confirmed that Tuesday’s third-round fixture against Newcastle United for the Carabao Cup has been postponed, citing overnight flooding of the River Wandle and surrounding areas.

It said the club’s stadium will be closed until further notice, and a rescheduled date for the match has yet to be confirmed.

A slow-moving area of low pressure has sat across the south of the UK since late on Friday and brought multiple rounds of wet weather to parts of England and Wales.

On Sunday, thunderstorms were reported around Luton, Dunstable and Woburn in Bedfordshire, and this led to some places getting their September average rainfall in just an hour or two.

The worst of the weather is expected to be over by Monday evening. Rain will slowly start to drift eastwards – easing as it does so – with the last dregs to clear south-east England into Tuesday morning.

Looking ahead, areas where the ground has become saturated over the last few days may still need to monitor the forecast for Wednesday.

Another longer spell of rain will cross England and Wales during the day on Wednesday, but as that clears chillier air from the Arctic will move south across most of the UK for the end of the week.

Daytime temperatures on Friday will peak at just 8 to 13C.

Additional reporting by Emma Harrison