wettest

However, the wettest places - especially around Malaga and Granada - could see around 180mm of rain falling this week – about two months’ worth of rainfall in a matter of days.

The first stretch opened between Watford and Rugby, according to the AA, and this section took 19 months to construct including work through one of the wettest summers on record in 1958.

Emma Hardy, the floods minister, described the situation as "extremely worrying" after the wettest 18 months on record in England.

Southern England saw its wettest September since 1918, according to newly released figures from the Met Office.

In Woburn, Bedfordshire, there has been four times as much rainfall than is usual for the time of year, making this September the wettest month ever recorded in the town.