Additional than 60 flood warnings have been issued in England following heavy rain overnight, and additional downpours are forecast. The Environment Agency has warned drivers that their cars might be washed away with just 30 cm (12 in) of water.

Gloucestershire's M5 highway was blocked in both directions on Thursday morning due to flooding, which also affected train services throughout Wales and England.

The southern half of England and Wales are under a yellow weather warning from the Met Office for heavy rain, with the Midlands being most severely hit. The Environment Agency (EA) issued 121 flood alerts and 66 flood warnings in England as of 8 a.m. on Friday.

The executive director of the EA for flood and coastal erosion, Caroline Douglass, cautioned drivers against driving across areas of road that are inundated.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “Don’t take a risk and drive through flood water, because it only takes 30cm to float your car … It’s probably about half the height of your tyres.”

Douglass said drivers tended to underestimate the risk: “They think a car is very heavy object and hard to move. But 30cm is not much water. And many of these waterways are much more fast-flowing than people will realise.

“It really doesn’t take much to make a vehicle float, and so in that case, it will be swept away. We really don’t want to see the sorts of tragic circumstances, we’ve seen this year and in previous years.”

She urged people to avoid walking near rivers or watercourses over the weekend, and to keep their pets and children safe.

Douglass said the agency was particularly concerned about flooding in the Midlands. “Over the last week or so, we’ve seen heavy thunderstorms and downpours, which have saturated particular areas. And then, as we move over the weekend and into next week, we’ll see more traditional winter rainfall that is more widespread and, unfortunately, that’s then going to be landing on already saturated ground. The Midlands are [likely] to be the most affected.”

According to the Met Office warning, wet conditions could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures, homes and businesses are likely to be flooded and there some communities could be cut off by flooding.

Avon fire and rescue service said it was working with National Highways: South-West to rescue people stranded on the M5 in Gloucestershire after heavy rainfall flooded the motorway.

National Highways said the M5 was closed northbound between J16 and J14 and the southbound carriageway was shut between J14 and J15 as emergency services worked to clear the flooding.

Councils and emergency services in Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire confirmed a number of road closures and reassured residents they were working to keep people safe overnight.

Sandbags have been distributed by the Tewkesbury Borough Council in Gloucestershire to locals in order to assist shield their homes against flooding.

On Friday, National Rail alerted customers to the possibility that trains in England and Wales may be impacted by the rainy weather. In addition, on Friday morning the line between Ledbury and Hereford was closed, and there would be no trains to or from Aberystwyth until 1pm.