Melting snow sparks flood alerts for Shropshire and Mid Wales

The Environment Agency has said river levels have risen as a result of rainfall and melting snow.

As a result, it has issued a Flood Alert for areas around Upper Teme in Shropshire over fears the water levels of the River Teme, River Onny and River Corve and their tributaries upstream of Ludlow.

Consequently, the Environment Agency said flooding of roads and farmland is possible from Sunday morning, while further rainfall is expected on Sunday evening into Monday morning.

Locations that may be affected include Bishops Castle, Church Stretton, Knighton and Ludlow.

"We expect river levels to remain high for several days. We are closely monitoring the situation," a spokesperson for he Environment Agency said. "Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses."

It follows a similar four-day flood alert for the Tern and Perry areas issued by the Environment Agency on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a flood warning has also been issued by Natural Resources Wales, who said a Flood Alert was in place for the Upper Severn in Powys.

Roads close to Caersws, Cilcewydd, Trehelig , Welshpool and Llandrinio could be affected by rising river levels, it said.

The flood warnings come as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for parts of Shropshire and Wales for the start of the week.

The weather service said that rain, snow, sleet and ice are likely to have some impact on travel from 5pm on Monday.

The yellow warning, which is in place until 10am on Tuesday, covers Scotland, much of northern England, including parts of Shropshire, as well as parts of north Wales.

Areas in the north of the county are expected to see ice and snow and include Oswestry, Wem, Whitchurch and Chirk, while Welshpool, Wrexham and Newtown in Wales are also likely to be affected.

The weather warning is also in place for stretches of Shropshire Roads including the A41 north of Newport, the A5 south of Oswestry and the A49 around Wem.

The Met Office has warned that cold weather is likely to see some roads and railways affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services expected.