Shropshire Star

Serious flood warnings in place for Shropshire in aftermath of Storm Bert

Two serious flood warnings and three more alerts are in place across Shropshire in the aftermath of Storm Bert.

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Flood warnings have been issued for the River Vyrnwy at Maesbrook and Melverley - areas which are regularly hit with floods when heavy rain happens.

It comes after Storm Bert caused chaos for some of the county on Saturday - with landslide near the Shropshire/Wales border and an incident where canoeists got into difficulty in Ironbridge and two people had to be rescued after driving through a ford in Ludlow.

Gobowen was also hit by serious floods, with local councillor Rob Macey warning people to stay away from the centre of the village. 

The yellow weather warning that partially covered Shropshire has now ended, but remains in place for the Welsh coast and the south of England until 1pm on Sunday.

As of Sunday morning, the A458 also remained closed due to flooding at Llanfair Caereinion.

Three people have died in the UK so far amid the severe weather conditions.

The Environment Agency said they expected flooding of Maesbrook and Melverley to occur overnight on Saturday into Sunday, but warned the river levels were expected to remain high until Tuesday.

They added: “We are closely monitoring the situation. Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.”

There are also fresh flood alerts - considered less serious than warnings - for the River Severn in Shropshire. Ledwyche Brook and the River Lea which will affect Cleobury Mortimer, and the Severn Vyrnwy confluence.

That is in addition to alerts which were already in place at the Upper Teme and the Tern and Perry catchments.

The Severn is currently expected to peak at Crew Green between 6m and 6.3m on Monday morning, Montford between 5.7m and 6m on Monday afternoon, Welshbridge between 3.5m and 4m Monday night, Buildwas between  4.8m and 5.3m on Tuesday morning and Bridgnorth between 3.8m and 4.3m on Tuesday afternoon.