Shropshire events hit as rain lashes region

Soggy Shropshire and Mid Wales endured a typical Bank Holiday washout as more than half an inch of rain lashed the region.

The county's unpredictable weather continued following last week's snow, with torrential downpours in Shropshire yesterday.

The Met Office said around a quarter of the normal average monthly rainfall for Shropshire fell in just one day yesterday.

Experts say the average monthly rainfall for Shropshire in April is between 40-60mm.

And it seems the wet weather is set to continue for the rest of the week as Met Office forecasters predict further showers in the county.

Forecaster George Goodfellow, said today: "The rest of the week will be a mixture of sunshine and showers for most of the country. A few of these showers will get a bit heavier at night."

The rain drove away visitors at Dorothy Clive Gardens in Willoughbridge near Market Drayton. Around 650 people flocked to the bi-annual plant hunters fair on Sunday.

However yesterday's downpour saw only 300 dedicated gardening enthusiasts return for the second day.

Julia Roberts, marketing manager at Dorothy Clive Gardens said despite the drop in numbers, organisers were pleased with how the event had gone overall.

She said: "It went really well. I was actually really, really surprised that people came back. Yesterday it didn't stop raining all day. The people that came back didn't care about the weather, they were real plant enthusiasts looking for an usual find that they wouldn't get in a garden centre."

Meanwhile visitors to South Shropshire Hunt's bank holiday Monday meeting at Eyton-on-Severn were down on last year thanks to the miserable weather.

Chairman Phil Jones said around 5,000 spectators came through the gates to watch yesterday's seven races, which he said was a drop on last year.

"The weather conditions were appalling but we had some very good races," he said.

It was a successful day for 17-year-old Annabelle Dalton, who won her first point-to-point race during the day.

AFC Telford's clash against Tamworth was abandoned after 36 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

Meanwhile the 25th annual Transport Show at Weston Park also suffered.

Low cloud meant that planes were not able to land at Wolverhampton's Halfpenny Green Airport for the aircraft and automobile festival.

The plug was also pulled on the radio-controlled model aircraft display.

The wet weather also caused misery on county roads yesterday. A smash involving a motorcyclist brought traffic to a standstill on large stretches of the A5 in Shrewsbury.

The incident happened at lunchtime yesterday on the A5 eastbound close to the Emstrey Island, in Shrewsbury, causing heavy delays of more than 40 minutes as scores of families made their way back to the area at the end of the bank holiday weekend.

Three ambulances, recovery vehicles and police officers were called to the scene and two lanes of the main bypass were closed in the direction of the crash as emergency vehicles worked to clear the highway.

The Highways Agency said heavy traffic caused delays of more than 40 minutes and the AA reported that drivers were queuing from the A5 at Bicton Heath in the west to the A49 at Haughmond in the east at the peak of the traffic chaos.

See also: Leader - What a washout