Floods continue to cause disruption in the UK

Heavy rainfall and floods continue to affect parts of England and Wales causing severe disruption. Thousands of homes have already been flooded and more are at risk from river, surface, coastal and/or groundwater flooding.

Weeks of continuous low pressure systems have bought gale force winds and heavy rainfall causing widespread damage and flooding. According to reports this has been the wettest winter on record. With the ground already saturated, further showers and rain have been exacerbating the floods causing additional damage and disruption.

More than 1000 properties have been flooded. The floods have also caused damage to railway lines in the southwest, disruption to rail and road travel in many parts of the country, loss of power and disruption to businesses.

Evacuations continue to take place in high risk areas including Somerset and towns and villages along the Thames in Windsor, Maidenhead and Surrey. High risk from flooding remains in Windsor, Maidenhead, Surrey and Somerset where further severe disruption is expected from rising river levels. These areas have already declared a major incident.

With further rain forecast over the next few days, additional widespread flooding affecting significant numbers of properties and communities is expected. Large scale evacuation is also expected where fast and deep flood waters pose danger to life.

Oxfordshire, West Berkshire and Reading, and Worcestershire are just some of the counties at risk from further flooding. Parts of Wiltshire and Dorset are also at risk from coastal flooding, whilst groundwater will cause more disruption in  south of England including  Croydon area of Greater London, Hambledon, Basingstoke and Lower Farringdon in Hampshire and Nailbourne in Kent.

The Environment Agency has currently issued 16 Severe Flood Warnings; 14 for the River Thames in Berkshire and Surrey and 2 in Somerset, 129 Flood Warnings and 242 Flood Alerts.

The Environment Agency along with other first responders and the army has been working around the clock to respond to the event. Warnings and Alerts have been issued to warn the public and business of further expected flooding. The Met Office has also issued an Amber warning for forecast winds of up to 100 km/hour on Wednesday and a yellow warning for snow and rain.