Residents were stranded on the roofs of their homes during severe flooding in the Philippines today.

Footage shows the locals perched on the rooftops of houses as heavy flood surged through the streets of Lope de Vega town in Northern Samar province on November 21.

The water had submerged the first-storey of several houses, forcing people to retreat to the upper floors.

Philippine weather agency PAGASA said Northern Samar saw 619 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period from Monday to Tuesday, 8 am. This topped the previous highest daily rainfall record of 605.5 millimetres recorded in Catarman town last December 2019.

A red weather alert for torrential rains was raised today over the provinces of Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Biliran, and parts of Samar and Eastern Samar.

PAGASA said the extreme weather was being caused by the shear line, an area where cold air meets warm air. The agency said the phenomenon occurs during the country's northeast monsoon season, when cool northeast winds meet warmer air blowing from the Pacific. The temperature gradient allows large storm clouds to form.