UK weather live: Travel chaos as M5 closes after heavy rain and 117 flood warnings issued

The Met Office has issued a fresh weather warning for the weekend as many people continue to battle flooding.

Areas of southwest England and Wales will be hit by winds of up to 60mph on Sunday as a yellow weather warning comes into force at 9am and will remain in place until 11.59pm.

Forecasters warned that coastal routes are likely to be affected by large waves, while there will be power outages and transport delays.

“Winds will strengthen from west to east throughout Sunday, with gusts of 50 to 55 mph likely in places, particularly near the coast and over/west of high plains, possibly exceeding 60 mph in the most exposed areas.” said the Met Office.

“This will be accompanied by intermittent outbreaks of heavy rain which may result in some surface water and splashing. Winds will gradually ease in Wales and inland southwest England through Sunday evening and overnight, however some coasts in the south and southwest of England may remain fairly windy overnight Sunday.”

Motorists have been reminded to avoid the area around the closed A421 as work continues to reopen the route following flooding.

The A421 in Bedfordshire was expected to remain closed in both directions between the A6 Bedford and Junction 13 of the M1 near Marston Moretaine on Friday as flood water continued to be pumped out of the junction.

National Highways said: “We are working around the clock to deal with the significant rainfall on the A421. “We understand that people are curious but ask the public to continue to support us and stay away from the area so that our “Work to solve the problem can continue to progress quickly.”

As of 11:15am, the Environment Agency had 62 flood warnings in force across England, meaning flooding is expected, and 117 flood warnings, meaning flooding is possible.

That’s slightly less than the 121 flood warnings and 66 flood warnings we saw this morning.

We will continue to update the number of flood warnings throughout the day.

As of 9:30am, the Environment Agency had 66 flood warnings in force across England, meaning flooding is expected, and 122 flood warnings, meaning flooding is possible.

After heavy rain overnight, roads and railway lines were closed on Friday, causing significant delays for travelers.

Images also showed football pitches and car parks were completely flooded in parts of the country, particularly in the south and West Midlands.

Tewkesbury Borough Council in Gloucestershire has distributed sandbags to people to protect their homes from flooding. Parts of the country received more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday and more rain occurred on Wednesday.

According to the Environment Agency, around 385 properties were flooded across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Kent and the Home Counties.

AFC Telford have shared shocking images of their flooded football pitch after the area was hit by heavy rain overnight.

Images shared on social media show the pitch completely covered in water, while other images show the club’s changing rooms also flooded.

The team said there were large amounts of standing water and mud in halls and offices.

Shocking footage has shown a Tesco car park completely flooded after another night of heavy rain.

The shop, believed to be on Marcham Road in Abingdon, Oxford, appears to still be open.