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Heavy rain across Britain overnight has inundated roads and caused “treacherous” conditions for commuters, leaving some cars stuck in flood water.
Much of the UK faced weather warnings until midday on Thursday, with the Met Office issuing yellow warnings for heavy rain. Train cancellations and delays were also expected.
Meteorologists were predicting more wet weather with a band of rain, which arrived in Cornwall on Wednesday afternoon, expected to travel across the country before passing over the east coast of Scotland on Friday.
The Environment Agency has issued 26 flood warnings in England, which mean flooding is expected, and 102 flood alerts, meaning it is possible.
Conditions were likely to be “atrocious” for much of the UK, while the Highlands could experience some snow, the Met Office said.
In West Sussex up to 20 cars were stuck in flood water and had to be rescued on the A27 between Emsworth and Chichester. The county’s fire and rescue service said on Wednesday night it was “extremely busy” rescuing people from cars and buildings after half a month’s worth of rain (65mm) had fallen in 48 hours.
The Sussex roads police officer PC Tom Van Der Wee warned drivers on Wednesday night that the roads were “treacherous”. He tweeted on Thursday morning that they had dealt with “a lot of weather related incidents” the previous day and warned drivers some roads may still be flooded.
We dealt with a lot of weather related incidents yesterday and some roads may still be flooded today so be sure to:
🌧️ Allow extra time for your journey
💦 Reduce your speed
💧 Maintain a larger gap between you and other vehicles
☔️ Be extra considerate to vulnerable road users pic.twitter.com/b6eK5nAGyA— PC Tom Van Der Wee (@PCTomVanDerWee) November 17, 2022
Rail travel was also affected with a tunnel flooded at Wadhurst in East Sussex, disrupting the line between Tonbridge and Hasting. Flooding on the Island line in the Isle of Wight and between Lewes and Brighton stations was also causing cancellations and delays.
The band of heavy rain initially focused in the south-east was now travelling north, with yellow rain warnings for Thursday across an area stretching from Birmingham, Lincoln and Hull to north Wales, Liverpool and Manchester, as well as the east coast up to the Scottish border.
A Met Office spokesperson, Craig Snell, said: “The warning areas are where we are most concerned about the risk of flooding but it does not mean the areas outside them are not going to see some pretty atrocious conditions.”
Snell said a warning was in place for the south-east because “it has been quite wet there since the beginning of November, with many places already seeing more than their month’s share of rain”.
⚠️ We are extremely busy dealing with multiple flood-related incidents, including rescuing people from cars and flooding in buildings.
Lots of localised flooding on roads across West Sussex, please take care tonight and only drive if absolutely necessary ☔️— West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (@WestSussexFire) November 16, 2022
The RAC breakdown spokesperson advised drivers to take care. “The chances of being involved in a collision rise dramatically in wet weather, and even more so if there’s snow, so it’s vital drivers slow down, leave plenty of space behind the vehicle in front and use their lights to make sure they are easily seen by other road users,” Rod Dennis said.
“The risk of aquaplaning where a vehicle’s wheels lose contact with the road as they skim across standing water will be high, particularly for those who do not slow down to appropriate speeds for the conditions.”
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