UK weather: Motorway flooded as ‘severe’ storms continue across England

Motorways have been flooded in the north east of England with more thunderstorms expected to roll in

A man stands next to floodwaters submerging the A1101 in Norfolk on Tuesday (Getty Images)

More areas across England are expected to suffer “severe” floods with storms bringing as much as 40mm of rain.

There were 81 alerts warning of possible flooding on Wednesday morning with flooding expected, in place for 20 locations, including eight in the Greater Manchester area.

The Met Office warns of a band of heavy rain moving slowly south through Wednesday with areas seeing 40mm or more, leading to dangerous driving conditions.

A yellow rain warning is in place until 3pm on Wednesday in the north east and Yorkshire with power outages expected in some areas.

National Highways announced the A1(M) is closed in both directions in County Durham after water spilled out across all the lains.

The A1(M) is closed in both directions in County Durham after flooding (National Highways)

After a weather warning for thunderstorms in the south of England ended at 3am, the Met Office said showery rain would push into eastern parts of England over Wednesday, with sunny spells developing in the south.

Other warnings were issued for Gog Brook in Warwick, Bunches Brook from Broadway to Childswickham in Worcestershire, and for low-lying properties near the River Brue and Glastonbury Millstream from Lovington to Highbridge in Somerset.

Flooding alerts in place across England on Wednesday (Environment Agency)

A warning was also issued for the B1040 Thorney to Whittlesey Road to the south of the River Nene near Peterborough.

On Tuesday evening, an MP warned that parts of Northumberland were experiencing “severe flooding” amid “extreme conditions”.

Drivers faced a 22 mile detour after the Old Bedford River and the River Delph burst their banks after recent heavy rain (Getty)

Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery said his office had “taken numerous calls about the serious flooding” in south-east Northumberland.

In a post on social media, Northumberland county councillor Scott Dickinson said: “A number of roads have been closed in the Blyth area and NCC teams are at the scene, along with crews from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Northern Powergrid and Northumbria Water.”

National Highways said the M5 in Somerset was temporarily closed southbound on Tuesday afternoon due to flooding after heavy rainfall.