We are now closing this blog but you can read our report here
Summary of the day …
Weather forecasters and politicians have come in for strong criticism after hundreds of homes and businesses across the UK suffered devastating flooding in Storm Bert but the Met Office has said it issued sufficient warning
There were growing complaints in south Wales, one of the areas most heavily hit, that the Met Office issued only a yellow warning, rather than an amber or red, and that not enough new defences had been put in place by the Welsh government since storms last wreaked havoc in the area four years ago
The environment secretary has said the UK’s flood defences are in the “worst condition on record” and promised the new Labour government has committed £2.4bn to upgrade them
Green party of England and Wales co-leader Adrian Ramsay linked the storm to climate change, saying “[politicians] who want to stop the drive for net zero need to explain to those whose homes have been flooded during Storm Bert why they think climate action is a luxury
There is still one severe flood warning, 125 flood warnings and 151 flood alerts in place in England. There are six flood warnings and 18 flood alerts in effect in Wales, and two flood alerts and three flood warnings in place in Scotland.
These are some of the scenes at Billing Aquadrome in Northamptonshire, where residents are being evacuated and a severe flood warning remains in place.
PA Media spoke to residents, who said it was the fourth time they had been forced to leave this year.
Stan Brown, 67, said he had lived there for 25 years, but “Enough is enough”.
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the mood on Monday morning was “low”, and that many of her neighbours hope to move away soon.
Green party of England and Wales MP Ellie Chowns has urged residents in Herefordshire to “please take care, and stay safe,” and directed them to the local council website for information.
The MP for North Herefordshire posted to social media to say she was “very concerned by the flooding caused by Storm Bert.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer has spoken to the first minister of Wales to offer addition support if it is needed, according to environment secretary Steve Reed.
PA Media quotes him saying:
The government has set up a Floods Resilience Taskforce and that is to make sure that the agencies on the ground in areas that are affected by flooding, as we’ve seen this weekend, are able to offer whatever support they can to those people. It’s important that that is done.
The prime minister has spoken to the first minister of Wales and has offered additional support if they need it in Wales.
So far, they haven’t said that they need that. But we stand ready to offer whatever further support we can to those parts of Wales that have been the very hardest hit by the floods.
He said that “as a result of the previous government, we have flood defences that are in their worst condition on record,” adding “because of climate change, we’re getting severe weather events much more frequently. That can mean droughts in the summer, but it means floods and storms in the winter.”
WalesOnline has been reporting from Cwmtillery, where Storm Bert triggered a landslide.
It spoke to resident Rob Scholes, who said:
Very quickly it turned into mud and stuff and nasty bits all over the place and at that point we decided it was not a good idea to open the front door. So we didn’t.
It was horrible. It really was horrible. Very quickly. More than anything else it was the speed at which it all happened. So much rain so quickly that it just overwhelmed us.
Cwmtillery is just to the south of the Bannau Brycheiniog national park (formerly known as the Brecon Beacons), to the east of Merthyr Tydfil.
Our Midlands correspondent Jessica Murray reports on the flooding in Tenbury Wells here:
Parts of Tenbury Wells town centre in Worcestershire were flooded by the Kyre Brook on Sunday after a wall collapsed, scattering debris across the road.
The flooding was reportedly exacerbated when a tractor was driven through the flooded high street, causing a bow wave which broke windows and forced doors open.
Louise Preston, 20, who owns a shop in the town, told PA:
Our business, personally, has not suffered anywhere near as badly as it could have done. What has been really heart-warming to see is the community spirit.
We’ve had police support officers down, the firemen were marvellous yesterday, Tesco has been giving people free cleaning materials, the cafes - who themselves have suffered - have been donating free tea and coffee to everybody.
Harriet Baldwin, the Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, has described the flooding hitting the town as “absolutely devastating.”
Updated
Environment secretary: UK’s flood defences in 'worst condition on record' after Tory government
The environment secretary has said the UK’s flood defences are in the “worst condition on record” and promised the new Labour government has committed £2.4bn to upgrade them.
PA Media quotes Steve Reed saying:
This government inherited from the previous government flood defences that are in the worst condition on record.
Now we’ve allocated in the budget £2.4bn to upgrade our flood defences, better maintain those we already have, build new flood defences to keep people safe.
That will make a difference and that’s what we need to do to cope much better with the impact of climate change that we’re seeing with these floods.
Earlier Green party of England and Wales co-leader Adrian Ramsay also linked the storm to climate change, issuing a challenge to politicians who oppose the UK’s moves towards net zero. He posted to social media to say:
MPs like Kemi Badenoch who want to stop the drive for net zero need to explain to those whose homes have been flooded during Storm Bert why they think climate action is a luxury. These storms are increasingly driven by climate breakdown. We need to act faster, not drag our feet.
England still has one severe flood warning, 138 flood warnings, and 160 flood alerts in place.
Wales has seven flood warnings and 19 flood alerts.
Scotland has two flood alerts and three flood warnings.
Flood warnings are not currently issued for Northern Ireland.
Chippenham town centre has been inundated with water, and the BBC has spoken to Becky Lyons who runs a pet shop there, which is under water.
She said “It’s reached my storage area, so all the stock ready for Christmas, it’s a bit disheartening to say the least. I feel a bit empty and numb. I’ve put everything into this shop. Customers and people in the high street said they will come and help us clear out when we can get in. We have such a great community spirit.”
Here are some of the latest images from Northamptonshire, where there is still a severe flood warning in place for the River Nene at Billing Aquadrome and nearby business parks.
The BBC reports that 57 children were rescued from a school bus that got stranded in floodwaters near Eckington Bridge over the River Avon.
It says the Hereford and Worcester fire and rescue service used two boats to effect the rescue, and nobody was reported injured. The students were believed to be from Prince Henry’s High School, which is in Evesham, Worcestershire.
Our video team has put together this report featuring footage of the aftermath of Storm Bert in the UK and Ireland.
People across England and Wales have been experiencing severe travel disruption due to flooding.
Linda from Manchester who had been visiting York with family - one of whom is partially disabled, described the travel chaos caused by the weather at Leeds station on Sunday night, following their 9pm train being cancelled.
“A little panic set in but we managed to get to Leeds by 10.30pm and found it chaotic. The last train back was moved to two different platforms which had us running up and down stairs and lifts only for it to then be delayed and finally cancelled.
“By 11pm platform 11D in Leeds was heaving. Staff said they’d organise transport and herded us to the concourse – there was lots of confusion. Outside, a steady flow of taxis wound their way through cordoned off sections of highway with no-one knowing which was for whom. We eventually got one, getting home at 1.20am.”
Lucy, 19, who is a PPE student at the University of Oxford is stuck in Bristol after visiting a friend on the weekend. Her and two friends Fred and Livia tried to get a train back to Oxford at 6pm but it was cancelled. They then booked an Uber but only managed to get to the outskirts of Bristol before turning back due to flooded roads.
“Luckily we could stay overnight with our friend Anna but it meant there were four of us in one room. I ended up on the floor – thankfully I had a sleeping bag. Two of us have compulsory tutorials today that we will have to miss. Some tutors can be understanding and others believe you shouldn’t leave uni during term time. Thankfully the tutor of the tutorial I’ll be missing is quite understanding. We’re getting an Uber now as it looks like the roads are OK but it’s going to cost about £100.”
If you’ve been affected by flooding from Storm Bert, you can share your experience here.
In Wales there are seven flood warnings still in place, with 20 flood alerts. The River Monnow, River Towy, River Wye and River Dee are all affected. The flood warnings can be checked here.
One severe flood warning and 143 other flood warnings still in place in England
In England there is one remaining severe flood warning, for the Billing Aquadrome and nearby business parks near the River Nene in Northampton. The Environment Agency says “deep and fast flowing” water may be a danger to life.
Additionally in England there are 143 flood warnings where flooding is expected, and 180 flood alerts where flooding is possible.
You can check the flood warnings for England here. The data was updated in the last ten minutes.
In Scotland there are two flood alerts and three flood warnings. They affect Easter Ross and Great Glen, Wester Ross, and Strath Oykel, and can be checked here.
Chippenham is flooded after the River Avon burst its banks. Drone imagery shows the centre of the town under water. There are a significant number of road closures in Wiltshire.
Nick Smith, the Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney in south Wales, has said he will raise in parliament in Westminster additional support for the Welsh government to support those affected by flooding.
In a post to social media he wrote:
Following the devastating damage caused by Storm Bert yesterday, I’d like to thank the emergency services and our council staff as well as all residents who stepped up to help out in their communities. My sympathies are with all those who have been affected.
I know some have suffered terrible damage, and many will be concerned about the reported landslips. I spoke to many councillors yesterday who put in a shift in support of residents, and, as ever, our communities have come together to help one another.
I intend to raise this matter in Parliament to ask for support for the Welsh government to help them deal with the impact the storm has had on our communities.
Labour MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, Chris Bryant, was on Sky News this morning, saying that some people affected by the flooding were likely to lose everything.
He told viewers:
A lot of people, especially when finances are really, really tough, the last bill they pay is probably the insurance bill. So there are lots of people who will have lost everything. Now I hope that the Welsh government will be able to step in with some kind of financial support.
He praised the local council in Pentre, which had been affected by flooding in Storm Dennis in February 2020. He said that following that incident, more than £1m had been spent expanding a culvert there, and that seemed to have helped the area avoid flooding this time around from Storm Bert.
Bryant said he had set up a fundraiser for local homes and businesses affected by flooding in Rhondda.
Investigation launched after reports communities were not warned of flooding
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have said they will investigate whether sufficient warnings of Storm Bert and the flooding it caused were given to people in advance.
Sian Williams, head of operations north west for NRW, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday:
That is a report that we’ve had from a few different places, saying that their people didn’t have enough warning yesterday morning, so absolutely that is something that we need to look at.
Did something go wrong? Were the river levels that we use as triggers set in the wrong place? We don’t know yet what the timeline was, but it is important that we review it, that we look at it, that we learn those lessons.
If we need to do it sooner, then that’s definitely something that we will look at doing.
Updated
Jamie Grierson and Steven Morris report for the Guardian
Forecasters and politicians have come in for strong criticism after hundreds of homes and business across the UK suffered devastating flooding in Storm Bert.
There were complaints in south Wales, one of the areas most heavily hit, that the Met Office issued only a yellow warning rather than an amber or red one, and growing calls for more investment in flood defences.
National Resources Wales (NRW) said that the flooding was so bad in some places because the storm got stuck rather than moving through, while the Welsh government said it could not stop every home and business being flooded during such “traumatic” storms.
Hundreds of homes were left underwater, roads were turned into rivers and winds of up to 82mph were recorded across parts of the country. Homes in the parish of Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, were evacuated after a landslip.
Here is a picture of passengers waiting at Paddington in London, where Great Western Railway has cancelled a significant number of services due to flooding in the west of England.
Dŵr Cymru issues 'boil water' notice for ten areas in Wales
Dŵr Cymru has issued a “boil water” notice for ten areas in Wales after the Tynywaun Water Treatment Works in Treherber was affected by flooding.
Water customers in Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm, Tynewydd, Treherbert, Treorchy, Cwm-parc, Pentre, Ton Pentre, Gelli, Tonypandy have been affected.
In the notice, the water company says:
We ask that all customers boil their water with immediate effect before using it for drinking purposes. We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause but we are working to restore supplies back to normal as soon as possible.
We have delivered bottled water to customers on our Priority Services Register and care homes while also working with key sites such as hospitals.
There is a postcode checker to see if your suppply has been affected. Dŵr Cymru serves about 1.4m households in total.
Our community team would like to hear from you if you have been affected by Storm Bert. They are also interested in hearing from those experiencing travel disruption. You can get in touch with them here.
PA Media reports National Highways has said the A5 in Northamptonshire is closed in both directions between the A43 (Towcester) and A422/A508 (Old Stratford) due to “severe flooding” in the area.
Northamptonshire Police have warned people in the area “while the flooding remains ongoing, please avoid all unnecessary travel and do not drive through floodwater of any depth – it is not worth the risk.”
In Yate in the west of England, BBC Bristol reports that about 100 properties were flooded overnight, and residents had to be evacuated.
PA Media reports that the most severe flood warnings, meaning there is danger to life, have been issued for the River Monnow in south-east Wales for Monmouth and Skenfrith.
In England, a severe flood warning has been issued for Billing Aquadrome and surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton.
Here are some pictures from Pontypridd this morning, where businesses are being protected with sandbags.
A row is brewing in Pontypridd, where residents say they were not given enough warning of the impending storm, and that local services weren’t prepared.
One local person told the BBC “ there was no preemption of it by our council, our local authorities. We feel they’ve really, really dropped the ball on this one.”
Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan said it had been “a really difficult weekend.”
Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council leader Andrew Morgan said in a press conference on Sunday he was “amazed” that only a yellow warning had been given by the Met Office.
The Met Office has said that, as with every named storm, it will carry out a review of its forecasts and warnings.
Network Rail has advised passengers of severe disruption between Milton Keynes and Rugby due to flooding at Northampton, after the the River Nene burst its banks.
Carole Bayliss, strategy director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route, said: “We’re very sorry to passengers disrupted by flooding in Northampton, which will mean major disruption on the West Coast Main Line today. While our teams monitor water levels and wait until it’s safe to fully assess the extent of flood damage to the railway, we’re urging passengers to check with National Rail Enquiries before travelling.”
Met Office: 'impacts from Storm Bert will continue to cause disruption'
In its most recent update, the Met Office has said “impacts from Storm Bert will continue to cause disruption as we go through today.”
Andy Page, Met Office chief meteorologist, is quoted as saying:
Impacts from Storm Bert will continue to cause disruption as we go through today, and multiple warnings are in place for wind and rain.
While the risk of any snowfall has now diminished, rainfall will affect much of the UK today, in particular some southwestern parts of England and South Wales, but the heaviest rain will ease from these areas through the day.
The strong southerly winds continue today and warnings are in place for central, southern and eastern England, Northern Ireland and western Scotland where gusts could peak at 60 mph and could even reach more than 70 mph along some exposed coasts.
He stated that “warnings could still be amended, possibly at short notice,” and urged peopel to check the latest forecasts.
Great Western Railway has “suspended train services on all key routes”, and advised people not to travel.
The train operator says that “flooding and fallen trees have blocked access at key locations”, and says that tickets for today will be accepted on Tuesday and Wednesday “including on peak-time services” or claim a full refund.
South Wales bore the much of the brunt of the flooding .
A major incident was declared in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region on Sunday amid fears of a more significant impact than during Storm Dennis in 2020.
Between 200 and 300 properties in the area were affected by flooding, with local leaders expressing surprise at the extent of the rainfall.
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said it had been “a really difficult weekend”.
I think this is the second time that many of those have suffered as a result of the storm. There’s been huge investments since the last storm hit, so we’ve managed to protect lots more properties than last time. But obviously this is absolutely devastating just before Christmas for those people who have been impacted.”
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering the impact of Storm Bert with the UK braced for further disruption on Monday after “devastating” flooding over the weekend.
As PA Media reports, the last of the Met Office’s rain warnings ended at 11.59pm on Sunday but strong winds persist and rain from high ground will reach rivers, which could disrupt clean-up efforts.
More than 200 flood alerts remain in place for England and Wales and travel issues are set to continue.
Over the weekend, hundreds of homes were flooded, with roads turned into rivers and winds of up to 82mph recorded. At least five deaths have been reported in England and Wales since the storm hit.
