Met Office issue rain alerts across South East with homes flooded following Storm Babet
Extreme weather continues to batter the UK, with the Met Office extending a new amber alert, warning flooding is “likely” – while the Isle of White has closed all of its train lines.
The south coast of England has been told to expect flooding and travel disruption, with Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and, particularly, the Isle of Wight forecast to experience the most severe weather.
The amber alert came into effect at 6am on Wednesday morning with no advance notice and was extended until 10am.
The Met Office said homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, with damage to buildings expected. Some areas could see as much as 40mm of rain, while in the Isle of White, reports suggested 2.4 inches of rain fell in just six hours overnight.
The weather has been so extreme there that some roads are reportedly impassable with drivers becoming stranded in deep water.
All train services on the island have been suspended until the end of the day.
Residents said they had been unable to get to work, with one saying the “island appears to have sunk over night”.
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for two areas on the island – the first in Ryde, near Monktonmead Brook at St Johns Road, St John’s Station and Park Road.
A separate yellow weather warning for rain is also due to stay in place until 10am this morning for a huge stretch of southern England, from Canterbury to as far as west Wales – covering London, Exeter and Salisbury.
For all areas in both yellow and amber alert zones, the Met Office said bus and train journeys will “probably be affected”, with delays likely.
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: “There could be a lot of spray on the roads and some difficult driving conditions as we start Wednesday morning. There could be some delays to public transport as well.”
There is a separate yellow weather warning for fog across the Midlands and parts of Wales due to last until 11am this morning.
The extreme weather follows some of the wettest weather in years, as Storm Babet left at least seven people dead, hundreds homeless and thousands more homes ruined by flooding.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said on Tuesday a “rapid review” would be carried out to assess the handling of Storm Babet’s impact as she suggested it had been harder to predict where resources were needed due to rain arriving from the east.
