Road closures across Northamptonshire as emergency services under pressure due to severe flooding

Heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours has left many parts of Northamptonshire under water and many residents dealing with severe flooding.

Roads across the county are closed, in other areas flood water is seeping into homes and there are more than 20 flood warnings still in place for rivers across the county.

Some areas of the county saw up to 50mm of rainfall yesterday alone (December 23).

Emergency services are feeling the pressure as call numbers have increased, which has sparked a joint statement urging people to only call 999 if their is a risk to life.

Below is a list of roads that are closed in the county due to flooding:

-A14 westbound a Junction 13

-B569 between Irchester and Rushden

-North Street, Raunds

-Walgrave Road between Walgrave and Hannington

-A509 at Bozeat between both junctions for London Road

-Church Street, Weldon

-Brixworth Road between Brixworth and Spratton

-Water Lane, Chelveston

-Apple Street Cottages, Grafton Underwood

-Welsh Road, Chipping Warden

-A605 at Oundle

-Ashley Road, Middleton

-Collingwood Avenue, Corby

Stoke Bruerne village, Billing Aquadrome, Titchmarsh, St James, Northampton and Geddington are some of the other areas badly affected by flooding.

Due to the road closures and amount of areas affected by the flooding, emergency services in Northamptonshire have seen an increased number of calls relating to flooding and are now under greater pressure.

Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, Northamptonshire County Council, Highways England and Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Groups have issued a joint statement.

The statement says: "Police, fire and other services are receiving a large number of calls due to the heavy rainfall – many from stranded drivers who have driven into floods.

"We are reminding people 999 is for emergencies only, and the increase in calls is putting services under pressure.

"We are urging people not to call 999 unless there is a serious risk to life or threat of danger to property. Doing so puts services under strain so those who do require an emergency response may have to wait longer.

"We are also advising people not to drive into water – the depth isn’t immediately obvious and the risk often unapparent.

"Driving conditions are difficult and we urge people to take extreme caution.

"Later, as temperatures drop, the roads could become icy, making conditions even more hazardous."

More updates on flooding across the county as we get them.