Roads and railway lines in the areas around Milton Keynes have been affected by flooding.

The closures come after very heavy rain fell in the local area over the last few days. Milton Keynes City Council have said that between Friday (21/09) and today (24/09), over 255mm of rain was measured as falling on the city, well in excess of the monthly average for September of 55mm.

Flooding lead to multiple road closures on Monday (23/09) in the wake of a particularly severe rain cell, with some roads remaining closed as of Tuesday evening.

One closed road is the A422 between Chicheley and Astwood, which MK City Council have stated will only reopen when safe to do so and when the road surface is clear of debris and mud.

The B526 to Weston Road, Lower Weald, Loughton’s School Road, Simpson Road and Broughton, as well as Riverside, Priory Street and Little Linford Lane in Newport Pagnell are all affected.

Another major closure is the A421 between Milton Keynes and Bedford, which is closed all the way from junction 13 of the M1 in the south east of Milton Keynes to the junction of the A6 near Kempston on the edge of Bedford. Significant flooding was reported near Marston Moretaine, where a pumping station that kept water from flooding onto the adjacent road was overrun.

Diversions remain in place around the affected area, which has closed part of a key road connecting Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge.

National Highways have confirmed that three cars were also abandoned in the area affected by flooding that will need to be recovered before the road is re-opened.

Flooding also affected railway services on both the West Coast Main Line and Marston Vale Lines serving Milton Keynes.

Rail services on the West Coast Main Line were delayed due to flooding between Wolverton and Northampton that blocked tracks, with a temporary block and bus replacement services also actioned while the problems were investigated. The line would eventually re-open earlier today.

Meanwhile, major flooding on Monday (23/09) closed the Marston Vale route connecting Bletchley with Bedford, halting all trains on the route.

Network Rail have confirmed the train service will be suspended until next Monday (30/09) while rainwater subsides and engineers can work to drain the affected tracks.

The track operator confirmed that flooding affected signalling equipment on the track and power supply for the route’s railway equipment.

In addition, the volume of water on the track also impacted the level crossings along the line and Network Rail have said their engineers are working to bring the track and the crossings back into service as soon as possible.

Delays have been because prolonged and sustained rainfall have made it harder than usual to inspect the railway and there is still a substantial amount of water to disperse before testing can take place.