New River Severn highs in Shropshire announced as expert explains why downstream 'peaks first'
The Environment Agency has issued an update to the river level forecast after the country faced a battering from Storm Gerrit.
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River levels remain high across the county after another wet and windy week.
Flood defences were put up in Ironbridge and Shrewsbury earlier this week as the Environment Agency prepared for the aftermath of the heavy rainfall.
With the latest update on Friday evening, it's certain that the defences will remain in place over the weekend.
Initial peaks from the rain over Christmas have already passed Shrewsbury, but levels have remained high because of the further rain.
This, and more rain forecast on Saturday, is set to cause additional peaks over the New Year weekend.
According to the latest predictions, Crew Green will peak between 6m to 6.2m on Sunday afternoon, followed by peaks of between 3.3m and 3.8m at Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury on Monday afternoon.
Down river in Ironbridge, levels are set to peak on Saturday evening between 4.8m and 5.2m.
In Bridgnorth, also on Saturday evening, the river is set to peak between 4.2m and 4.3m.
It's not particularly common to see peaks forecast down the river earlier than upstream.
Clare Dinnis, Environment Agency Area Director for the West Midlands said it was "because we’ve got multiple peaks from successive bands of rain", which will continue over coming days.
With further rainfall forecast, river levels are expected to stay high for several days.
Another update is expected by 10am on Saturday, or as the situation changes.
