Homes braced for flooding as rain warning escalated

People have been urged to move their possessions to safety as more of Oxfordshire is hit by flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) has four flood warnings in force across the county, with downpours expected until 06:00 BST on Friday.

In north and west Oxfordshire, the Met Office has escalated a weather warning for rain from yellow to amber.

Many areas of Oxfordshire saw more than 100mm (4ins) of rain fall over Sunday and Monday, leaving some homes with flood damage.

Jonathan Hobbs owns a boat rental company in Henley and said he had never seen the River Thames so high in September.

He said the high river levels meant people had cancelled their bookings.

"This is just terrible, terrible for business. It's unprecedented, in my opinion," he said.

"I'm very worried that we could be looking at a whole winter of disruption again."

According to the weather warning, rain could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures, while homes and businesses are likely to be flooded.

The Environment Agency said further flooding was expected in the Heyford Bridge and Enslow areas.

It also issued flood warnings for the River Thame near Dorchester and the River Thames near Stadhampton and between Buscot Wick and Shifford.

Oxfordshire County Council warned river levels remained high following a "record-breaking" amount of rain.

"Our fire and rescue crews, highways teams and emergency planners continue to work hard in dealing with flooding matters,” a spokesperson added.

Chiltern Railways was reporting delays to its services due to flooding between Banbury and Birmingham Moor Street, as well as on the Banbury to London Marylebone line.

The Radcliffe Meteorological Station in Oxford said it recorded more than 118mm of rainfall on Sunday and Monday, "significantly higher" than the previous record of 98.1mm set in 1968.

Some residents have criticised the county council following the flooding on Monday, claiming the problems had arisen because drains were not being maintained properly.

Council deputy leader Peter Sudbury insisted "no drainage system" could have coped with the levels of rainfall experienced.

"We do need to get the drains clear, but that won't stop your road turning in to a river when most of the sky falls just up the hill.

"There is a much wider landscape-scale operation we need to work out how you slow down water whenever it lands," he added.

The council said teams had been clearing gullies regularly since January in an effort to prevent blockages.

On Wednesday, Oxford City Council said it had been checking on vulnerable residents and helping people whose homes had been flooded.

Yellow weather warnings are also in place for Thursday and Friday across most of England, which the Met Office has said could lead to difficult driving conditions.

Some places could see between 50-60mm (2-2.4 ins) of rain in about six hours, a spokesperson said.

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