The A5 northbound carriageway is closed in Milton Keynes between the A421 (Bletchley/Stadium MK) and the A509 (Great Holm), according to National Highways., external

Highway teams are on the scene working to reduce to water levels and have said the road will be reopened when possible.

A diversion route is in place with drivers told to follow the "hollow triangle" diversion symbols.

The full diversion route is as follows:

• Exit the A5 northbound at the junction with the A421
• At the roundabout take the third exit onto the A421 towards Buckingham
• At the next roundabout take the first exit to remain on the A421 again towards Buckingham
• At the following roundabout, Elfield Park, take the third exit onto Watling Street towards Knowlhill/Furzton
• From here continue on Watling Street, taking the second exit at the next two roundabouts (The Bowl Roundabout & Knowhill Roundabout)
• At the third roundabout (Loughton Roundabout) take the third exit towards Aylesbury/Northampton
• Continue to the A5 Portway Roundabout with the A509 and take the first exit to re-join the A5 northbound

Over a dozen Bedfordshire schools closed on Monday due to the wet weather.

Central Bedfordshire Council, external and Bedford Borough Council, external notified parents on their individual websites of the closures, mostly due to flooded grounds.

According to these websites, no schools have announced another day of closure yet.

Despite its neighbour Dunstable being massively affected by the flooding, no schools in Luton were closed on Monday, and it's the same picture today according to the Luton Council website, external.

Jack Hunt School in Peterborough has announced it remains closed on Tuesday due to a broken fire alarm system.

A statement on its website, external says the school "sustained considerable storm damage" and the site still could not open safely.

The Wollaston School, near Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, was closed to several year groups on Monday.

It has not yet announced on its Facebook, external page or website, external whether it will be reopening on Tuesday.

Image source, National Highways

Several roads are still closed early on Tuesday morning.

The A421 at the Marston Moretaine interchange in Bedfordshire was one of the worst hit roads on Monday.

The dual carriageway between Bedford and Milton Keynes had a huge lake form in a dip under a road bridge, while a single stranded car was pictured almost completely submerged in it.

National Highways were on site on Monday to begin pumping out the water but the agency says the road still remains closed on Tuesday, external.

The M1 northbound carriageway from junction eight to junction nine near Harpenden in Hertfordshire has one lane closed due to flooding, while the A5 northbound at Milton Keynes is similarly closed.

A diversion has been put in place for the A5, external (pictured).

Hello and welcome to Tuesday morning as the live updates page resumes.

We'll be continuing to post updates on disruption caused by flooding across the East of England.

Several roads remain closed due to flooding while schools that were closed on Monday are expected to confirm if they can to reopen or not later.

Image source, Joe Giddens/PA

We're wrapping up the live updates for Monday, with the A421 closure between Bedford and Milton Keynes providing some of the most dramatic pictures of the flooding.

See below for posts to official websites that can keep you up to date on road and school closures, and the weather forecast.

We are planning on resuming updates on this page on Tuesday morning.

Image source, Met Office

Many schools which were closed today said they hoped to reopen on Tuesday, although they have yet to confirm this..

In Central Bedfordshire, some 13 schools were closed, you can check the council's website for the latest information on closures, external.

In Bedford Borough, five schools were affected by flooding, you can check the latest on these here, external.

In Northamptonshire, the Wollaston School was shut to some year groups, external, with an update expected later about possible reopening.

In Peterborough, the Jack Hunt School also has information on its website, external following Monday's closure.

Tony Fisher
BBC News, Bedfordshire

Image source, Tony Fisher/BBC

Emma Pearce only moved into her home in Marston Moretaine in July and was shocked when she saw water starting to seep into her home on Sunday afternoon.

"When I saw the water coming through, I was a bit upset," she said.

"We were watching Man City and Arsenal - Sunday roast for dinner - and I just saw this wetness on the carpets, just coming everywhere."

She said it had been "very scary" but neighbours and the Bell Pub near her house showed "great community feel" by helping her family tackle the flood water.

More rain is forecast for parts of the southern England overnight, with the Met Office issuing an amber warning, external covering an area including Oxford, Bath and Milton Keynes.

A less serious yellow warning covers an area around the amber warning area, external, taking in most of the rest of the country, including the East of England.

The BBC Weather pages say there is still an 80-90% chance of rain in the Marston Moretaine hotspot in Bedfordshire on Monday evening, dropping overnight to 0% by 09:00 on Tuesday.

Kate Bradbrook
BBC Look East

Image source, Kate Bradbrook/BBC

In Goodwood Close in Clophill some residents of the Bedfordshire village are worried about the impact of more forecasted rain as gardens and garages have already flooded.

The Met Office is forecasting heavy rain will continue into the evening and overnight., external

Gary Paul said most of his garden was under water but "mercifully" his house had remained dry, so far.

He said: "It's mind-blowing how quickly it [the rain] came down.

"It's been pretty hairy today, but mercifully we've avoided a breach so far. But others in the Close have not been so lucky.

"We're just hoping there's no more rain comes down tonight otherwise it could be a big problem for everyone."

Image source, Kate Bradbrook/BBC

Dean Elcome has lived on the street for seven years and said he had never seen anything like this.

"I'm pretty worried because this is supposed to be something like a one in 100 year event, but we're getting it twice in a year," he said.

He said he had been unable to get any insurance for flooding and today he had already lost several thousands of pounds worth of electrical items stored in his garage.

Residents have all moved their cars from the street.

Mr Elcome said he planned to try to stay awake through the night to deal with any potential flooding as it happened.

Image source, National Highways

Judging by the pictures from Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, it doesn't look as if the A421 is going to open any time soon.

The dual carriageway is completely flooded underneath a bridge across the road bypassing the village to the north.

The National Highways updates page on the closure, external still says: "There is currently no ETA for the reopening of the carriageway."

Diversions are in place and full details are on the same updates page, external.

Image source, PA Media

Dozens of people rushed to a farm to save livestock after it was hit by flooding, with some helpers wading into chest-high water to drag sheep to safety.

About 50 neighbours turned up on Sunday night to help at Moreteyne's Retreat in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

Joanna Johnson, 54, said her miniature ponies had to swim out of the flood water and the sheep were dragged through to safety.

Neighbours and emergency services helped at the farm, including building temporary pens, until 04:00 on Monday, she told PA Media news agency.

Two ponies have been temporarily rehomed in a school playground, she said.

"We flooded in January and the fire brigade got all the animals out; they were here for 12 hours," she said.

"Yesterday it was like a river coming off the A421 and then the pond burst and within 15 minutes the entire farm was under water.

"I put a message out online and the villagers flocked here so fast."

Image source, PA Media

Ms Johnson said she felt "helpless" and she was desperately searching for somewhere to temporarily house them over the winter.

Image source, Nicola Haseler

The River Flit at Shefford in Bedfordshire is continuing to rise, according to the Environment Agency, external.

It is now at 1.15m (3.77ft), just slightly above the 1.13m (3.7ft) level at which the agency warned of a risk of flooding to properties.

According to the Environment Agency the areas most at risk in Shefford are:

• Hazel Close
• Scotgrange Meadow
• The Hollies
• South Bridge Street
• Kingsmede
• North Bridge Street
• Hardwick Close
• Riverside
• Powells Road
• Bedford Road
• Heronslee

Tony Fisher
BBC Three Counties Radio

Image source, Tony Fisher/BBC

Avril Wright from Marston Moretaine said she saw on social media that large parts of the Bedfordshire village had suffered badly from flooding.

She said the community rallied round to help each other with sandbags and other flood defence work.

"Quite a lot of villagers came out to help, which actually was fantastic community spirit," she says.

"The Bell Pub opened its doors and basically said if anyone needed help or a cup of tea to go in there and a cafe called Marston Beans - they also opened their doors to help people."

Image source, Glenda Rogers

The village of Yardley Hastings, near Northampton, has also been badly hit by flooding.

On one path, Wellington boots are just about able to keep the feet dry.

Image source, Glenda Rogers

Nicky Schiller
BBC News

Image source, Nicky Schiller/BBC

It is still raining here in Marston Moretaine where the A421 is completely flooded.

But help has arrived and the junction, between Bedford and Milton Keynes.

National Highways are on site with some large tankers which are going to start pumping some of the water but as you can see from the pictures we've been showing you it will be a mammoth job to clear all the flood water.

One of the local newspaper headlines is "Bedford's new river?".

It certainly still looks like one from where I am standing on the bridge.

Click on the "Watch live" button at the top of the page to see BBC coverage of the floods across England, with a heavy emphasis on Bedfordshire.

Image source, Nicky Schiller/BBC

Image source, Jo Black/BBC

At St Mary's Church of England Lower School in Clophill in Bedfordshire the clean-up operation in under way.

The school, which is on a flood plain, said this was the worst flooding it had seen after it was forced to close today.

Site manager Derek Speake has been trying to brush away copious amounts of mud and water to get the doors back open tomorrow.

Image source, Derek Speake

Image source, Reuters

There is still no news on when the A421 south of Bedford might reopen.

One dog walker has been seen looking down at an abandoned, almost entirely submerged car (which we pictured earlier), the top of which can be seen bobbing above the surface of the water.

Diversions are in place, external.

Kate Bradbrook
BBC Look East

Image source, Kate Bradbrook/BBC

Kirsty Brewer works at R&R Hair Services on Dunstable High Street and says flooding has become commonplace in the Bedfordshire town.

"We've experienced our fourth flood in the last six years," she told the BBC.

"Luckily we don't open on a Monday anyway, so it hasn't affected business in that sense but we've been here for the last three hours cleaning everything up, trying to get rid of all of the mud, all of the water."

Being in a listed building, the owners have not been allowed to install a flood gate and so preparation has become key, she said.

"We just have to prepare for the storms to happen, the floods to happen and deal with the aftermath. It's very frustrating," she added.

When the business flooded for the first time six years ago there was thousands of pounds worth of damage but Ms Brewer said now damage is limited thanks to storing items up high, including electrics.

We've just had this striking photo of the A421 in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

If you look closely, the open boot of a car is just about visible in the bottom right of the photo.

Image source, Joe Giddens/PA Media