Flood water cascades down streets in Hertfordshire after thunderstorms

Flash flooding during heavy rain caused disruption in Hertfordshire on Tuesday.

Water cascaded down Station Road in Harpenden and there was also significant flood water in Stevenage and Welwyn.

Nitan Shah, who has run a newsagents in Harpenden for 17 years, said there was about 4-5in (10-12cm) of water in his shop.

He said it happened "at least once a year" but had "not been this bad before".

The Met Office had earlier issued a yellow weather warning predicting heavy showers and thunderstorms between 11:00 and 22:00 BST across the region.

Up to 20mm (0.8in) of rain was forecast to fall within an hour in some places.

Footage shared on social media showed water pouring down Station Road towards the A1081.

Mr Shah, whose shop is at the bottom of the hill on the road, said: "It was really bad; in all the 17 years [I've been here], yesterday was the worst day; I've never seen water like that in the shop.

"The water comes from all over the place and converges at this point.

"But the way it was yesterday - it was out of the blue.

"I do keep the stock up a bit higher knowing that we do get water inside."

He added that the community had rallied round to help him after seeing the video.

"People were contacting me and saying if you need any help just let us know and I'm very grateful for that," he said.

Harpenden resident, Peter Halsey, said the heavy rain lasted about an hour and it was "horrendous" with a "torrent of water" in the side roads as well.

"It's all cleared this morning, but shops are having to clear up. They look pretty damp," he said.

Some roads in the county also became impassable for motorists.

Hertfordshire Constabulary had said it was experiencing a "high volume" of 999 calls because of cars stuck in flood water and urged drivers to find "alternative routes".

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service reported that it had 65 calls and dealt with 30 weather-related incidents within a two-hour period, concentrated between Ware and Harpenden, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Deputy chief fire officer Andy Hopcraft said one person was rescued following a road traffic collision during the heavy rainfall.

Hertfordshire County Council said the "geography" of Station Road and High Street in Harpendon meant there was "no practical way to completely prevent this kind of flash flood".

"Normally this isn't a problem, but when we get sudden extremely heavy rainfall... the drainage system can be temporarily overwhelmed as the water cannot drain away fast enough," a council spokesman said.

"We do regularly clean the drains, and we have looked into the flash flooding problems at this location in some detail."

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