Heavy rainfall sees train passengers stranded and homes flooded

Heavy rainfall led to flooding in parts of the country, stranding train passengers and prompting the Royal Air Force to be drafted in after a river breached its banks.

A Chinook helicopter was deployed in a Lincolnshire town to drop sand in an attempt to stop the flow of water after the River Steeping experienced a breach.

Seventy properties were hit by flooding, but Lincolnshire County Council warned that up to 720 could be affected after it said the town of Wainfleet had more than two months of rain in just two days.

Matt Warman, Tory MP for Boston and Skegness, tweeted that his thoughts “were with all in Wainfleet this evening”, adding that he had been in contact with the Environment Agency at the scene of the breach and was “confident everything possible is being done”.

Meanwhile, East Midlands trains apologised to customers after passengers became stranded following a landslide near Corby.

One man tweeted the operator to say his niece had been stuck on a replacement train for five hours amid flooding, after the original one was stranded in the landslide.

The company tweeted: “For customers being affected by the flooding and landslide near Corby, please know we are working closely with @networkrail and the emergency services to get you moving safely, as soon as possible. We are very sorry for the lengthy delay this flooding has caused.”

As of 3pm on Thursday, Chillingham Barns in Northumberland had seen the most rainfall, with 48mm falling throughout the day.

The Met Office has warned of more wet weather to come on Friday, and said sunshine and showers will form the backdrop for an unsettled weekend, with thundery outbreaks in places.

Forecasters said the wettest ever June for the UK as a whole was in 2012 when an average of 149mm of rain fell.

As of June 11, the UK has seen 55.9mm of total rainfall.