Flood warnings in place for 15 areas as Brits urgently brace for horror thunderstorms

Dozens of areas remain under flood alerts on Wednesday, and more have been issued by the Environment Agency, after forecasts showed more thunderstorms and showers on the way

Britain is bracing for yet more weather misery today after 15 areas were issued urgent flood warnings.

Flood alerts remained in place across England on Wednesday morning amid fears that thunderstorms and heavy rain will cause travel disruption. There are 89 Environment Agency flood alerts in total advising of possible flooding, while another 15 locations are under flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected. Two of these are in Bristol.

Warnings were updated overnight for the River Anker in Warwickshire and areas around the River Blackwater near Southampton. After a weather warning for thunderstorms in the south of England ended at 3am, the Met Office said showery rain would push into eastern parts of England over Wednesday, with sunny spells developing in the south.

Other warnings were issued for Gog Brook in Warwick, Bunches Brook from Broadway to Childswickham in Worcestershire, and for low-lying properties near the River Brue and Glastonbury Millstream from Lovington to Highbridge in Somerset. National Highways said the M5 in Somerset was temporarily closed southbound on Tuesday afternoon due to flooding after heavy rainfall.

A warning was also issued for the B1040 Thorney to Whittlesey Road to the south of the River Nene near Peterborough. On Tuesday evening, an MP warned that parts of Northumberland were experiencing "severe flooding" amid "extreme conditions". Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery said his office had "taken numerous calls about the serious flooding" in south-east Northumberland.

In a post on social media, Northumberland county councillor Scott Dickinson said: "A number of roads have been closed in the Blyth area and NCC teams are at the scene, along with crews from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Northern Powergrid and Northumbria Water."

Other forecasters are also predicting some snowfall today, with blizzards beginning in northern Scotland before potentially spreading to northeast England by the early hours of Thursday. In his latest update, James Madden from Exacta Weather wrote: "Throughout this morning and into this afternoon, we will see the first snow showers and heavy snow showers of this week developing across higher ground in the far north and Scotland. This wintry weather will then intensify and turn to some potential blizzards or whiteout conditions in these parts throughout this evening and the ski resorts, and some of these non-significant wintry or snow showers could also fall temporarily throughout this evening and the early hours across higher ground in northern and northeast England."