The town surrounded by flood water during Storm Fergus: St Ives in Cambridgeshire is almost cut off after the River Great Ouse burst its banks in torrential rain

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A Cambridgeshire market town has been deluged by flooding after the River Great Ouse burst its banks following days of persistent heavy rain.

Aerial photographs showed how St Ives and the surrounding area were underwater today following torrential downpours associated with Storm Elin and Storm Fergus.

The Environment Agency (EA) issued a flood alert for the river between the villages of Brampton to Earith and confirmed in an update today that levels were still high.

Experts added that the levels would ‘remain responsive to further rainfall’ – and while no rain was forecast today, more is set to arrive tomorrow and into Wednesday.

The EA warned that further rain ‘could see river levels begin to rise again as the catchment is saturated’, adding: ‘Flooding may be possible over the next few days.’

Flooding at St Ives in Cambridgeshire yesterday after the River Great Ouse burst its banks

The River Great Ouse through St Ives in Cambridgeshire has burst its banks, seen yesterday

The areas most at risk are around the river from Brampton to Earith, including Back Brook, Hall Green Brook, Parsons Drove Drain, Swavesey Drain and Wadsbys Folly.

The EA said access to Godmanchester could be affected, and warned people to ‘take care on riverside roads and footpaths, and don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger’.

They confirmed an update would be issued at 6pm today, adding: ‘We are continuing to monitor the situation and will provide further updates as the situation changes.’

On the opposite side of England, the other town called St Ives – located in Cornwall – saw over half its monthly December average rainfall in just 24 hours last Thursday. 

In total, more than 250 areas of Britain remained on flood watch today after the two named storms brought winds of up to 81mph and torrential rain over the weekend.

The Cambridgeshire market town of St Ives, pictured yesterday, has been deluged by flooding

A map from the Environment Agency shows the flood alert area around the River Great Ouse

Severe weather following Storm Elin and Storm Fergus will continue later this week after a break with dry and sunny weather today – with eastern Scotland expecting up to 3in (75mm) of rainfall tomorrow, equivalent to a third of the monthly average.

The washout will continue until Wednesday in some areas, but from Thursday most parts will see drier and brighter weather with slightly above-average temperatures.

Today, the Environment Agency has 202 flood alerts for areas of England where flooding is ‘possible’, plus 42 more serious warnings where flooding is ‘expected’.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has eight flood alerts in place, while Natural Resources Wales has a further seven alerts – taking the UK total to 259.

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