'Terrifying flash flood chased me home before water burst through our barrier'

Tim Maher has described the infinitesimal flood waters broke the banks of a stream successful Nottinghamshire and raced towards his home, earlier breaking though a obstruction astatine his property

A flood victim has described the infinitesimal waters broke adjacent his home and chased him down the roadworthy arsenic Britain faced a deluge of rainfall today.

Heavy rainfall has caused havoc successful parts of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and London, leaving immoderate areas submerged. As of earlier today, determination were 21 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - and different 78 alerts issued for England by the Environment Agency. The wide rainfall caused wide question disruption and harm to properties.

Bedfordshire Police said it had closed disconnected portion of Dunstable High Street owed to "substantial flooding" arsenic footage shared connected societal media showing cars battling precocious h2o astir the Saracen's Head pub. successful London, AFC Wimbledon were forced to postpone a League Cup necktie with Newcastle owing to flooding, which besides damaged their location ground.

In Northamptonshire, Tim Maher and his spouse Carol Findon saw their two-storey location successful Grendonpartially submerged overnight with much than a ft of water. Tim said: “We haven't had overmuch slumber and astatine slightest 8 houses connected our roadworthy person been impacted.

“We've had an atrocious batch of rainfall successful caller days and immoderate forecasters were informing we could spot a month's worthy of rainfall successful 24 hours. I person an app connected my telephone which tracks stream levels and astatine astir 8.45pm it rocketed up. I decided to thrust down to the span and saw the h2o breaking the banks and coming down the roadworthy towards me.

"I rapidly turned around, drove location and enactment up the flood obstruction we've got up against the door. It kept retired a batch of the h2o but we've had astir an inch overnight. We've had immoderate harm to the carpets, settees and different furniture.

“The astir hard spot volition beryllium drying retired the structure. It would beryllium bully to get a imperishable solution to this problem."

The Met Office has issued an amber weather informing for millions of radical successful England - with much than 100mm of dense rainfall expected today. The upwind informing for astir of England came into unit astatine 5am and volition past until 9pm, sweeping implicit Birmingham, Nottingham, Worcester and Hull. Parts of England could acquisition much than a month’s worthy of rainfall connected Monday - which is equivalent to an mean September rainfall.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “First happening connected Monday greeting past we spot an amber upwind informing travel into force. It stretches betwixt Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and up towards the Wash and the Humber.

“This country successful particular, during Monday, we could spot implicit a month’s worthy of rainfall falling, and with the rainfall we’ve already seen implicit the past mates of days this surely has the imaginable to bring immoderate disruption and flooding successful locations and present it is precise important we bash instrumentality attraction implicit the people of the day."