Get to high ground, residents urged after severe flooding in West Sussex

Rescue operations are underway after severe flooding in the wake of Storm Kathleen caused a river to burst its banks.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service dealt with a “severe flooding incident” at Medmerry holiday park between Bracklesham and Selsey, urging anyone in the vicinity of the holiday park to get to high ground if they were able to leave their homes.

The fire service also warned people in the seaside town of Littlehampton to get “as high as possible within their homes” after the River Arun burst its banks.

They said anyone requiring lifesaving intervention should dial 999 to contact the fire and rescue service or the coastguard.

“Please avoid the area and remain in your homes where possible to allow our crews to work safely,” the emergency service said.

South East Coast Ambulance confirmed a “number of resources” were sent to help evacuate and rescue a number of people from the Medmerry holiday park.

“We’ve assessed and triaged a number of people at a nearby facility. One person showing signs of hypothermia has been taken to hospital,” they said on X.

The emergency update comes as heavy rain and strong winds are forecast to batter parts of southern England, western Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland over the next few days.

In Hampshire, flooding is affecting the railway at Lymington Pier.

Trains may be cancelled, delayed, or revised because of this problem, said South Western Railway, adding that replacement buses had been requested between Lymington Pier and Brockenhurst.

The disruption is expected to last until 10am.

On the Great Western Railway, flooding between Clifton Down and Severn Beach means all lines are closed as water has risen above the tracks on the branch line.

Trains running to and from Severn Beach will run between Taunton/Weston-super-Mare/Bristol Temple Meads and Clifton Down only.

This is expected to continue until approximately 10am.

Meanwhile in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, Dyfed-Powys Police urged motorists to avoid the area around the A487 at Penycwm after it was closed due to surface water.

The Met Office issued six separate yellow weather warnings spanning Monday to Wednesday morning.

Winds in the south-west of England, including Cornwall and parts of Devon, could reach speeds of up to 60-65mph along some stretches of the coast.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said that while these levels of rainfall would not be a “huge cause for concern” on their own, they will fall onto “already saturated ground” which increases the risk of flooding.

Met Office provisional statistics showed that England saw a record amount of rainfall in the 18 months to March. Mr Partridge said the past three months in particular had made for a “very wet start to the year”.

Mr Partridge said it would be a “blustery day” in England on Tuesday but there would not be “huge totals of rain”.

He added: “It’s actually quite warm conditions for the time of year - we could see 19C or 20C across eastern and southeastern parts of the UK come Thursday and Friday.

“But the north will always stay quite unsettled.”