WATCH: I visited a badly flood-hit area in Northampton after it was deemed a 'danger to life' – it was chaos and looked like the end of days

A huge downpour from Storm Bert on Sunday saw the county hit with massive flooding. This is the second time in recent months that Northampton has been badly affected by extreme flooding.

The Environment Agency released the floodgates at 3am, easing the flooding pressure on the town, but in turn, flooding Billing Aquadrome—a floodplain—and leading to another mass evacuation from the site… again.

Since the early hours of this morning, hundreds of residents and holidaymakers at Billing Aquadrome have been fleeing their properties because the flooding was deemed a "danger to life." So I headed over to Billing Aquadrome to see what it was like.

When I arrived, I saw a top-of-the-range BMW stranded in water after trying to leave; about 40 residents were outside The Quays Pub, stranded with nowhere to go. No one wanted to talk to the press, with some saying this is part of the deal when owning property on Billing Aquadrome, others saying they didn’t want backlash from the owners.

I made my way further up to the entrance of Billing, where I saw caravans completely submerged in water, with signs in the windows saying it could be yours for £20,000…

Security at Billing told me no one was allowed on-site except for emergency vehicles. However, some people remained at the location, which is cut off from access, and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service expected to be carrying out boat rescues for the rest of the day.

The remaining few still on-site rushing out of Billing Aquadrome in their cars had to get through the 60-metre stretch of deep water without getting stuck. It was a bit of a sport. A shoutout to the Nissan Micra, which glided past the stranded BMW.

Around the corner, the petrol station was flooded, the car park was underwater, and the police had now closed off the road into Billing Aquadrome, deeming the dash through the water too dangerous. The Chinese restaurant was flooded, and the staff were stranded on the roof. It looked like the end of days.

I’d been there for an hour, and I decided it was time to leave before I too got stuck at Billing Aquadrome. Driving out through the large floodwater, there’s that strong anxiety you get, thinking you’re going to be the one who gets stuck and is landed with a hefty bill to fix your car. Fortunately, I made it out.

Billing Aquadrome has been contacted for comment about flood defences and what it is doing to make the site safer. They recently posted on Facebook, saying: “Over the last few months, we have invested over £700k into the beautification and flood resilience at Billing Aquadrome by dredging the lakes and rivers around the park.”

I then headed over to Far Cotton after seeing photos circulating online that Cotton End was completely submerged. It was. A blue Mercedes AMG was abandoned in the middle of the road surrounded by water; the owners of The Ruby Chinese takeaway on the corner had been badly hit, and they were in the process of removing their belongings and trying to clear the floodwater, with one woman using a dustpan to scoop the water out the front door.

All in all, it was quite bleak—ordinary folk facing these ever more common extreme weather events.

I’m off to Weston Mill Lane for a press call with the authorities to once again ask what is being done to mitigate the effects caused by flooding locally, because the current situation doesn’t seem to be working. It’s more reactive than active, it seems.