Heavy rain batters parts of the UK bringing flooding and travel misery

Homes have had to be evacuated and roads and railways left under water after torrential rain has brought flooding to parts of the UK.

A number of flood warnings remain in place across Scotland, England and Wales after an onslaught of heavy rain on Saturday.

In Wales, footage on social media showed a swollen river in Pontypridd after the deluge, while the River Towy in Carmarthen burst its banks completely.

We are going to be in trouble again here in #Pontypridd if we have another deluge of rain.
Good to see @NatResWales on the scene. #flooding #llifogydd pic.twitter.com/x3t8RcMnHj

Malcolm Rees, 54, from Carmarthen said one of his sheds, which his family had used since the 1930s, had been submerged in water up to a metre deep, adding that the floodwaters had left a trail of silt, sediment and sludge behind.

Mr Rees, a coracle boat maker, said the river had only come into his property once, in 1987, but over the last couple of years it had happened three or four times.

The areas in Wales most affected by flooding have been in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, with some homes having to be evacuated, Natural Resources Wales said.

It added that there are believed to be “multiple flooded properties in both the Teifi and Tywi Valley”.

Roads across Carmarthenshire were closed and locals were advised to be careful due to “lots of surface water”.

Ceredigion County Council said on Saturday that a decision had been made to evacuate some homes in the Welsh village of Adpar, with residents being taken to a centre in Llandysul.

Between 9am on Friday and 6pm on Saturday, Llyn-y-Fan Blaenau in Carmarthenshire had seen the most rain – around 141mm – Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said.

The forecasting firm had previously said that the average rainfall for the whole of February in South Wales is 98mm.

In Cumbria, over the same period, 130.2mm of rain fell at Seathwaite, while 125.8mm was recorded at Honister Pass.

High Row in the county was the wettest area in the 12 hours to 6pm on Saturday, seeing 43mm of rainfall.

In the southwest of England, floodwater brought disruption to the railways, with trains between Newquay and Par in Cornwall, Hereford in England and Newport in Wales and Abercynon and Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales all affected.

Meanwhile in Stirlingshire in Scotland, photos showed drivers attempting to travel through floodwaters on the A84 near Callander.

As of 2am on Sunday, 11 flood warnings were in place in England, which predict flooding is imminent, with a further 96 alerts issued.

In Wales, 19 flood warnings were issued, while 22 alerts were put in place, largely across the south of the country.

Meanwhile in Scotland, a single Met Office weather warning has been issued for strong winds in the northeast, as well as 49 flood warnings and 10 alerts issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

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