A Butlin’s holiday park has been forced to shut for four days after heavy rain caused severe damage when it poured through ceilings and left rooms underwater.
The resort in Minehead, Somerset, was damaged during extreme weather conditions on Sunday, which saw a month’s worth of rain fall in just 24 hours.
More yellow weather warnings for torrential downpours have been issued by the Met Office for parts of the UK later this week.
A Butlin’s spokesperson said: ‘We’ve taken the difficult decision to close due to several important venues being impacted by the weather.’
One holidaymaker said streams of water started entering her chalet from both sides at around 10.30am on Sunday.
Karen Keen, who was staying at the resort, said her group’s belongings, mainly clothing, had been ruined.
The resort in Minehead, Somerset, was damaged during extreme weather conditions as holiday-goers splash through the floodwater outside their rooms
The resort is closed for four days and is expected to re-open this Friday. It comes amid weather warnings. Pictured: Flooding seeps into the buildings as one person gets their trousers wet just walking through a kitchen
The holiday resort said they are ‘very sorry’ to anyone whose holiday has been affected. Pictured: Holiday-makers battle against a river of flood-water as they make their way around Somerset Butlin’s
Despite the flooding, many guests remained upbeat and still went out clubbing in the evening. Pictured: A woman braves the inclement weather as she raises her hands as she trudges through a flooded walkway
She added: ‘It was so quick. It was just crazy. Even the toilets were backing up.’
Meanwhile another visitor, Ruth Mills, told the BBC: ‘On Saturday, we had been to see Wet Wet Wet and it was just like okay, then this was our turn to get wet wet wet.
‘It was horrendous. It just got worse.’
Helen Harris, who was part of the group, said: ‘We tried to make a laugh about it but nobody was there with any information, we were just left in limbo.
‘We were tired and wet, we felt dirty. They need to face people. Not everyone was angry, they just wanted to know what was going on.’
Nigel Hopkins, from Leicestershire, told ITV: ‘After we finished breakfast, all of a sudden everyone was like go look round there, and we went round and the whole of the restaurant area was flooding.
‘There was water pouring through the lights.’
But he added that the holidaymaker’s spirits remained upbeat and he still went to the silent disco later that evening.
He added: ‘We went to the silent disco, and they were saying thanks to everybody for staying.
The resort said that refunds will be issued and that the safety of their guests was a priority. Pictured: Water covers the floor at a flooded canteen
Butlin’s were forced to call in extra staff because of the flooding to help the guests at the park. Pictured: A man goes barefoot as he spares his shoes from getting sodden in floodwater
Water even started pouring out of the lights because of the dramatic weather over the weekend
‘Everybody was just still out for having fun and having a bit of a party.’
The resort is expected to re-open on Friday.
In a statement, Butlin’s said more staff were called in to help guests after the chalets flooded.
The statement added: ‘We brought in extra team to help guests, who worked quickly to re-accommodate every unit that had been flooded and we had an overwhelmingly positive response on resort yesterday,’ the firm said.
‘We communicated with guests via digital screens and SMS to keep them updated and managed to continue with a full entertainment schedule.
‘Due to several important venues being impacted by the weather, we took the difficult decision to close for this week’s family break. The safety of our guests and team is our top priority and we are very sorry to anyone whose holiday has been affected.’
It comes as Britain is being hit by the remnants of Hurricane Lee, which pounded the north-eastern US and Canada with 70mph winds at the weekend, with gale-force winds of 45mph or more forcast until Thursday.
Yesterday saw Devon hit with extreme weather causing power cuts amid lightning strikes, while landslides closed roads including the M5 for a short time.
Warnings were last night in place for potential flooding of homes in Dawlish, Sampford Mill and Kingsbridge.
