Rain and snow lead to flooding and disrupt travel in parts of the UK

LONDON (AP) — Rescuers evacuated people Monday from flooded homes and stranded cars as a soggy and cold spell continued to disrupt life across parts of the U.K. as more wintry weather was expected.

Hundreds of schools were closed for the first day of classes of 2025, trains were halted and commuters experienced headaches as sections of highways and major roads were closed from high water and snow that made driving hazardous.

Warnings that flooding was expected were issued in more than 165 places in England and Wales and several train lines were shut down or experiencing delays due to floodwaters or trees that had fallen on tracks.

Leicestershire and neighboring Lincolnshire in the English Midlands declared major incidents as they responded to hundreds of calls for help as waterways spilled over their banks and turned roads into rivers, burying cars up to their roofs.

At least 17 rescues were made to get people out of swamped homes and vehicles, the Leicestershire fire service said. Emergency workers were trying to pluck children from a school in Edenham, where they were safe but stranded, the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum posted on the X social media platform.

Rows of hedges poked from the brown waters marking field boundaries as large swaths of farmland were submerged.

Southeast of London, the Little Venice trailer park in Yalding, Kent was surrounded by floodwaters.

Snow created a beautiful backdrop in the hills of northern England and parts of Scotland, but forced hundreds of schools to shut their doors on what had been scheduled to be the first day of the new year.

With temperatures dipping below freezing in many places, authorities were also warning people to be careful of icy conditions in Tuesday.

Snow and ice warnings were in place for most of the U.K. into Tuesday and through Wednesday in southern England.