Storm Conall brings flooding and travel disruption, closing rail lines

Storm Conall has brought heavy rain to parts of southeast England, triggering flooding which has blocked key rail lines, causing travel delays.

Commuters are being warned of heavy disruption on some routes and advised not to travel on some parts of the network.

The Met Office predicted the third named storm of the season could bring up to 50mm (two inches) of rain on Wednesday - just days after torrential rain from Storm Bert over the weekend.

The Dutch weather service KNMI named the new storm, Conall, as it headed towards the south of England bringing an area of low pressure.

After heavy rain in southern counties, it is forecast to deepen further to bring strong winds across the Netherlands later on Wednesday and into Thursday.

Get the five-day forecast where you are

A Met Office yellow rain warning had covered southern England, including Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Essex, Hampshire, Dorset, parts of London and the Isle of Wight.

A previous warning around Plymouth in Devon was lifted early on Wednesday morning.

Between 15 and 20mm (0.6-0.8 of an inch) of rain had been forecast with 30-40mm (1.2-1.6 of an inch) in some areas and a lower chance of 50mm in parts of the South East, the Met Office said.

Disruption to rail routes

Flooding and other incidents have affected several train operators across the region including Thameslink, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, South Western and Southern.

Thameslink is advising people not to travel on routes in and out of London until this afternoon. Services from London Blackfriars and St Albans are affected, and trains are suspended between Cambridge and Brighton.

Tunnels at Farringdon and Bletchingley have both flooded.

Meanwhile Southern has suspended Gatwick Express services. There are also no trains running between: Redhill and Tonbridge, Reigate and Gatwick, as well as Reigate and London Victoria (on Great Western).

Great Western and South Western are also reporting delays to services travelling via Southampton Central because of flooding and a fallen tree. It is affecting journeys to and from Cardiff Central, Bristol Temple Meads, London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour.

There are also problems between Guildford and Wokingham / Farnham. Trains are expected to be cancelled or delayed until 2pm.

South Western said delays are likely between Ascot and Aldershot because of earlier flooding at Bagshot.

On the Isle of Wight, services are affected between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde St Johns Road.

On Wednesday lunchtime there were 89 flood warnings and 158 flood alerts in place in England.

A severe flood warning, meaning there is danger to life, was still in place in Billing Aquadrome holiday park and the surrounding parks next to the River Nene in Northampton.

Storm Bert clean up continues

It comes as communities are still clearing up after Storm Bert, which brought torrential rain and winds of more than 80mph, turning roads into rivers and flooding hundreds of homes.

Earlier, the Met Office warned more flooding is "likely" to hit the UK this week, with further potentially heavy rain arriving across southern areas alongside colder temperatures on Wednesday.

Chris Wilding, of the Environment Agency, said "significant flooding impacts" are probable in parts of Northamptonshire, with "minor" flooding on the River Severn.

Flooding impacts are not expected to worsen in Yorkshire and the West Midlands over the next few days.

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The naming of storms is shared by the KNMI, the Met Office and Ireland's Met Eireann to make communication of severe weather easier.

The storms list - first launched in 2015 - for each year generally runs from early September until late August the following year, coinciding with the beginning of autumn.

(c) Sky News 2024: Storm Conall brings flooding and travel disruption, closing rail lines