Heavy Rain Floods Britain

Heavy flooding caused rush-hour chaos today forcing train operators to cancel services in the Midlands and leading to flood warnings across the UK.

Huge downpours hit much of Britain overnight, particularly in the Birmingham area and Virgin Trains gave warning that “severe flooding” meant its services through the West Midlands were subject to disruption.

Central Trains said all services between Birmingham and the East Midlands had been suspended due to severe flooding, which was at its worst in the Water Orton area.

Services linking Birmingham with Walsall and south Staffordshire were also suspended, a spokesman for the operator said. The service between Leicester and Stansted Airport remained in operation, the spokesman added.

The Environment Agency also put flood warnings in place across the UK.

Firefighters in South Yorkshire said they were inundated with calls from flooded householders after more than 24 hours of almost continuous downpours.

Controllers received almost 200 calls between midnight and 8am - almost all from residents worried about flooding, mainly in cellars.

A spokeswoman said most of the calls were from the Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham areas.