Heavy rain across West Midlands causes disruption with cars stranded and trains suspended

Commuters in parts of England faced disruption on Friday as more heavy rain and flooding overnight caused problems on roads and to rail services.

Images posted on social media showed tracks at a train station in Shropshire completely submerged and abandoned cars on an empty motorway in Gloucestershire.

It comes as an amber rain warning issued by the Met Office for areas of the Midlands and the south of the country, and a separate yellow rain warning for large parts of England and Wales, both ended on Friday.

Areas affected by the amber warning, including Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands, were hit by flash floods as the Met Office said the regions could have 30-40mm of rainfall within three hours.

Rail services between Shrewsbury in Shropshire and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands were cancelled, with disruption expected all morning, after severe flooding at Wellington station and an earlier tree on the line.

Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told the PA news agency: "There will continue to be localised flooding. A lot of these areas have been hit by rain in the past few weeks which means the ground is already saturated.

Mr Dewhurst said conditions were expected to "ease up" and become a bit drier through Friday, but added: "Rivers often take time to respond so we're expecting disruption to continue in central and southern parts throughout the morning. Those planning to travel on Friday should factor this into their journey times."

As of 9am, the Environment Agency had issued 66 flood warnings across England, meaning flooding is expected, and 121 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.

According to the Met Office warning, the weather could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures, homes and businesses are likely to be flooded and there is a "good chance" some communities will be cut off because of floods.

Delays and cancellations to train and bus services and power cuts are also likely while footage on social media showed cars driving through partially submerged roads.

Parts of the country had more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday and there were further downpours on Wednesday.

The rain is expected to clear during Friday leaving conditions much colder on Saturday.

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