River rises again at Llanymynech as Severn flood threat pauses
The flooding risk has temporarily eased along the River Severn in Shropshire but water levels are rising again at the Severn Vyrnwy confluence on the border with Wales.
The River Severn burst its banks on Friday, covering regular Shrewsbury flooding spots like the West Mid Showground and Frankwell car park in water.
But water levels are now reducing. The Severn peaked at 3.4 metres at the Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury, on Friday evening before reaching a peak in Ironbridge and Bridgnorth on Saturday.
Water levels rose as a result of Storm Barra and rivers are expected to fill up again with heavy rain forecast in the coming days.
Flood barriers were installed in Shrewsbury and Ironbridge on Thursday and Friday but the flood warning for Shropshire has now been removed.
Less serious flood alerts - which warn people to "be prepared" - remain in place for the Severn through Shropshire and its confluence with the Vyrnwy on the border.
The Environment Agency is encouraging people to stay away from low lying footpaths near watercourses as a result.
In an 8.42am update on Sunday, the Government's flood checking service reported that flooding continues on low lying land and roads next to the river from the Welsh border at Llawnt to Shrawardine near Shrewsbury.
"Other locations that may be affected include Llanymynech, Maesbrook and Melverley," it said.
With further heavy rainfall forecast over the next two days they say river levels at Maesbrook and Cae Howel are high but steady and still pose a flood risk.
In Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth the situation looks to have eased for the time being with levels at Welsh Bridge, in Shrewsbury, dropping back to within the normal range.
At Bridgnorth at 8.45am today the river was back in its normal range with a height of 3.39 metres after peaking at 3.4 metres on Saturday evening.
The gauge at Buildwas, Ironbridge, remained slightly above the normal range at 4.1 metres on Sunday morning but still around 3 metres below the levels seen in the serious flooding at the beginning of last year.
With more heavy rain forecast in the next 48 hours the Environment Agency is "closely monitoring the situation" with incident response staff checking defences.
A flood alert also remains in place at the Tern - Walcot river gauge and flooding of roads and farmland continues in Wolverley to Newport. Other locations that may be affected include Market Drayton, Wem and Rodington.
