A UK airport was forced to close and cancel all of its flights this weekend following flash flooding brought about by heavy rain and thunderstorms.

An amber weather warning for thunderstorms across Devon and Somerset was in place on Sunday afternoon, forcing Exeter Airport to close.

The ‘torrential downpours’ led to a number of flights being cancelled – though the airport is set to operate as normal today.

Video footage showed the main terminal flooded with water, with passengers forced to wade through water after their flights were cancelled.

An airport spokesman said: ‘Following Sunday afternoon’s flash flooding, which caused the closure of the airport, our teams are working through the night cleaning up and we expect to be open tomorrow morning, Monday.

‘Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the very latest information about their flight, and please bear with us while we do our very best to return all airport operations to normal.’

The heavy thunderstorms caused localised flooding in other parts of Devon, leading to a number of road closures, train and bus cancellations, and the closure of Paignton zoo.

Elsewhere in the country there were yellow thunderstorm warnings for London, the south east and east of England and the East Midlands, which expired at 6am on Monday.

Almost a month’s rain fell on Sunday at the Birds Hill rain gauge on the edge of Exmoor.

Other spots saw up to 60mm of rain fall, more than half the September average for the region of 92.45mm.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said more storms are possible as the remnants of Hurricane Lee, which hit New England in the US and eastern Canada, is set to move across the UK between Tuesday and Thursday.

It will no longer be a hurricane by the time it reaches UK shores.

He said: ‘That will be getting picked up by the jet stream. Showers in places could be heavy with a risk of further thunderstorms.

‘It could be quite an unsettled, autumnal week to come.’

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Katie Boyden

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