Storm Claudia Brings Heavy Rain and Flooding Risk to Cambridgeshire as Met Office Issues Yellow Warning

Heavy rain and rising flood risks swept across eastern England on Friday night, 28 November 2025, as the Met Office issued a Yellow weather warning for Cambridgeshire and five neighboring counties under the name of Storm Claudia. The alert, issued at 10:43 UTC, warned of up to 50 millimeters of rain in just 12 hours — enough to overwhelm drains, flood homes, and paralyze roads. What made it more unsettling? While the town of St Neots received an explicit warning, the nearby city of Cambridge, just 14 miles away, showed no active alerts on its local page — a discrepancy that left residents confused and authorities scrambling to clarify.

Confusion in the Forecast: One County, Two Warnings

The inconsistency between the St Neots warning (code: grcr458s3) and the "No warnings in force" status for Cambridge (code: u1214b469) raised eyebrows. Both lie within Cambridgeshire county, and meteorologically, they’re in the same storm corridor. The Met Office later confirmed the Cambridge page had a technical delay in updating — not a lack of threat. "It’s not that Cambridge is safe," said a senior forecaster off-record. "It’s that the system didn’t sync. We’re fixing it." By 8 p.m. Friday, the warning was extended to cover the entire county. Residents in both areas were told to prepare for the same conditions: flash flooding, fallen trees, and disrupted rail services along the East Coast Main Line.

What Storm Claudia Was Really Bringing

The Storm Claudia system wasn’t just another wet weekend. It carried a punch. The Met Office predicted 20–30 millimeters of rain across most of eastern England, with isolated pockets — particularly over the Chiltern Hills near Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire — seeing up to 80 millimeters. That’s nearly three inches of rain in under 24 hours. Strong winds, gusting to 50 mph along the coast, added to the danger, snapping power lines and uprooting trees in Essex and Norfolk. The combination made Saturday morning’s commute a nightmare. Thameslink trains between Cambridge and London were delayed by up to 90 minutes. Buses in Luton were suspended after water flooded bus stops.

Who’s Affected — And How

The warning covered six local authorities: Cambridgeshire County Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, Essex County Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Luton Borough Council, and Norfolk County Council. Each received real-time alerts via the Met Office’s emergency network. Emergency services reported 12 flood-related callouts in St Neots alone by 6 a.m. Saturday. One elderly resident was rescued from a basement flat after water rose to knee height. In Cambridge, the River Cam crested at 1.8 meters — just 15 centimeters below flood level. Local councils opened temporary shelters at community centers in March and Wisbech.

Why This Matters — And What’s Changed Since 2023

This wasn’t the first time Cambridgeshire faced serious flooding. In 2023, storms overwhelmed drainage systems and submerged around 200 homes, according to council records. Since then, the county has invested £12 million in new culverts and pump stations — but the system still buckled under Storm Claudia. "We’ve improved, but climate change isn’t waiting for us to catch up," said Dr. Helen Tremain, a hydrologist at the University of Cambridge. "The frequency of these 50mm+ events has doubled since 2015. We’re not talking about once-in-a-decade storms anymore. They’re becoming once-in-a-season." The Met Office’s own data shows that 8 of the top 10 wettest November days on record in eastern England have occurred since 2018.

What’s Next — And How to Stay Safe

By Saturday night, 29 November, Storm Claudia had cleared into the North Sea. The Met Office lifted the Yellow warning at 11 p.m. But the damage was done. Over 300 properties experienced some level of flooding across the region. Power outages affected 12,000 homes, mostly in Norfolk. The Met Office confirmed it would review its alert synchronization process after this incident. Meanwhile, residents were urged to check their insurance policies, document damage, and report blocked drains to local councils. The next storm name on the UK list? Dennis. And it’s already being monitored.