UK floods: Homes evacuated in state of emergency and travel disrupted
Swathes of UK, from Dorset to Northumberland, face big mop-up
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Your support makes all the difference.Homes were evacuated and rail services were disrupted as torrential rain brought flooding to parts of England.
The RAF was called in at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, when the River Steeping burst its banks after three days of downpours, with water reportedly rising to about 2ft. People were forced to leave about 100 homes.
The county council issued a state of emergency, saying the flooding posed a risk to residents, and the RAF was asked to plug the breach in the river bank.
Lincolnshire and Shropshire were among the worst hit counties.
But with many areas across the north of England and Midlands also being drenched, passengers became stuck on a flood-hit train in Northamptonshire.
A landslide caused by the rain flooded the railway near Corby. A second train was brought in to move the passengers.
Many roads were flooded around Redditch, Worcestershire, where drainage and highways experts tackled impassable routes and where train services were disrupted.
The Environment Agency had issued dozens of flood warnings and alerts across the UK.
Most were across the Midlands and Northwest, although they extended as far as north as Northumberland and south to Christchurch in Dorset.
Rail services between Skegness and Boston have been suspended until Saturday due to flooding, while Merseyrail has cancelled some trains on the Chester and Ellesmere Port lines because of water on the tracks.
Motorists including a minibus of Indian tourists became trapped at Lambley, near Nottingham, overnight and were taken in by local residents.
Resident Malcolm Bamford told the BBC: “We had two in our house and the neighbours had three, and then there was a group of about eight Indian tourists in a little tiny bus and they all wanted to use the toilet.”
National Rail Enquiries said heavy rain had flooded the tracks between Whitlocks End, near Solihull, and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Waddington in Lincolnshire had nearly 40mm fall over 14 hours, while Coleshill in Warwickshire had 30mm and Astwood Bank, Worcestershire, had 31mm.
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