Shropshire Star

Shropshire village has most rainfall in the UK as THREE MONTHS of rain falls in a week

A village in Shropshire was the wettest place in the country on Wednesday, with meteorologists saying some parts of the county have seen the equivalent of almost THREE MONTHS rain in a week.

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Pennerley in Shropshire has had the most rainfall of anywhere in the country

Pennerley, just over 14 miles south west of Shrewsbury, had almost 4cm of rainfall within 24 hours, and Shropshire is steeling itself for another day of turbulent weather.

Meteorologist Simon King said that Shropshire has seen three months worth of rainfall since the weekend.

The low-level barriers in place at Frankwell in Shrewsbury. Photo Sue Austin.

Low-level flood barriers went up in Shrewsbury's Frankwell Car Park at 5pm yesterday.

The River Severn has already burst its banks in parts of Shrewsbury as this video from the Rivers Team with Shropshire Wildlife Trust shows:

Shropshire Council said Frankwell Car Park would be open today but, based on predicted river levels, it will be closed on Friday and people are encouraged to use the Park & Ride service instead.

Police examine a flooded footpath in Donnington, Telford. Photo: Judy Haycocks.

Flood warning and alerts remain in place across in several locations in the county.

Warnings - meaning that flooding is expected and immediate action is required - are in place for:

  • River Vyrnwy at Melverley

  • River Vyrnwy at Maesbrook

Alerts - meaning flooding is possible, be prepared - are in place for:

  • Upper Teme near Ludlow,

  • Rea Brook and Cound Brook in Shrewsbury

  • River Severn in Shropshire

  • The Tern and Perry catchments near Wem

  • The River Dee Catchment in England from Whitchurch to Chester

This afternoon, Telford & Wrekin Council said that following this week’s heavy rainfall, it is restricting on-street parking on the Wharfage in Ironbridge this evening to allow gullies to be cleared and bungs deployed as a precaution to stop any floodwater coming up through drains.

It said: "At this stage and with an improving forecast, we are not expecting any flood barriers to go up on the Wharfage. Otherwise it’s businesses as usual and the Wharfage is open to traffic.

"For any residents in properties that are below the level of the Wharfage, sandbags will be available to collect from around 6pm opposite the Tontine Hotel, should these be needed."

Dave Throup, regional manager for the Environment Agency, said: "Shropshire has been at the centre of this weather event. We've have between four and six inches of rain in some areas over the last few days.

"The water has been making its way from the Welsh areas down to the River Severn. All the rivers are pretty full, so any more rainfall makes a difference to the levels.

"We saw an awful lot of surface water flooding at the beginning because the weather was dry beforehand and the ground was very hard. A lot of roads weren't passable. The Severn at Melverley peaked at around lunchtime today.

"It will peak in Shrewsbury tomorrow afternoon at about half a metre higher than today. These are what I would could normal levels for winter flooding, so to have it in June is a bit unusual."

All 220 miles of the River Severn are now on flood alert, as heavy rainfall continues.

He added: "The Shrewsbury area has seen some of the biggest totals.

"We are expecting more rain today and, given how full the rivers are, it can make a big difference so we are monitoring the situation. Things should start to dry out over the following few days. We've got to keep a close eye on things over the next 24 hours.

"We're urging people not to drive through flood water and to plan their routes. There have been a lot of reports of people getting their cars stuck in water.

"We've got the barriers up at Frankwell, but we haven't got any plans to put them up anywhere else. We will keep reviewing the situation for Ironbridge, Bridgnorth and Bewdley, but there isn't as much water feeding into the river in those areas compared to Shrewsbury. The levels are a bit lower there than in Shrewsbury."

Flooding was causing significant disruption to rail services last night, and difficulties are expected to continue today. The line between Shrewsbury and Chester is still closed.

Newport Road, Albrighton has been closed since yesterday morning. One driver ignored road closed signs and ended up stuck in the water.

Fire crews from Welshpool were stood down from the town centre yesterday afternoon after pumping water away from the worst affected areas.

But they were soon called into action again when a property in Pool Quay became flooded.

River safety campaigner Kirsty Walsh spoke to youngsters and issued a warning online for people to keep safe amid rising river levels.

The Met office says that this morning rain will clear slowly eastwards allowing sunny spells and scattered showers to develop for the afternoon.

It will still feel rather cool underneath the cloud and rain but temperatures will start to recover later in the day, hitting a maximum of 16°C.

Watch the Met Office forecast:

Showers will gradually die out through the evening to leave a largely dry night with scattered cloud. Further showers are then expected to arrive from by dawn on Friday, leading to a mixture of sunny spells and scattered, occasionally heavy, showers for the afternoon.

See also:

It is expected to stay unsettled this weekend and on Monday, with a mixture of sunny spells and showers, some heavy and thundery in places. Temperatures should recover to nearer the average for the time of year over the weekend.

Surface water flooding could cause problems for motorists during Thursday morning’s rush hour, the Met Office said, while there was a “small chance” some communities could become cut off.

Torrential rain saw flooding hit parts of the Midlands on late Wednesday night, with some properties and roads inundated. A number of people needed rescuing from cars caught in floodwater in Nottingham and Warwickshire as the inclement weather moved across the country.

Weather warnings are in place for parts of Scotland, north Wales and the north-east and north-west of England.

The Met Office tweeted: “Amber and yellow warnings are in force for Thursday morning, so conditions on the roads will be treacherous for some with surface water flooding and intense rainfall.”

The Met Office said Chillingham in Northumberland saw nearly 1cm of rainfall in the space of an hour on Thursday morning.

The village had seen 73mm of rainfall over a 28-hour period – more than the 66.4mm average for the whole of June.

Elsewhere, Waddington in Lincolnshire saw nearly 40mm fall over a period of 14 hours, while over the same period Coleshill in Warwickshire saw 30mm fall and 31mm was seen at Astwood Bank in Worcestershire.

More than 90 flood warnings and alerts were in place across England.

Wettest

Nottingham City Transport said many roads had been affected by standing water and floods while the Environment Agency said a number of people had to be rescued in the city after getting stuck driving through flood water.

Operations manager Kelly Golds tweeted: “So far tonight in #Nottingham 18 people have had to be rescued by emergency services after getting stuck driving through flood water. Just 30cm of fast flowing water is enough to move your car. #floodaware”

According to the Met Office, the wettest ever June for the UK as a whole was in 2012 when an average of 149mm of rain fell.

Mr Miall said this month’s rainfall so far was “still a long way off” breaking that record.

He explained that following a dry summer and winter river levels across the country were low, meaning much of the current flooding was surface water flooding that could potentially retreat quickly.

Shropshire farmers waiting to assess fallout from deluge

Sarah Faulkner, NFU environment adviser, said: “We have seen quite the deluge over the past few weeks but we’re hopeful it will ease off next week and that is what has been suggested by the Met Office.

“The rain has put a halt to grass cutting and silaging and there may be potential impact on cereal crops but we will have to wait and see.

“Animal welfare remains a priority and livestock are being moved to higher ground.

“The rain will certainly help groundwater reserves and reservoirs that were depleted due to the drought last summer.

“The NFU remains busy supporting our members via our network of contacts in the Environment Agency and local authorities, working with the local NFU branches.

Important

“As always there needs to be proper assessment of the value of agriculture when looking at flood management.

“This is crucially important in Shropshire where highly productive farmland is at risk of flooding and where agricultural land is part of the solution to flooding, such as providing flood water storage, however, this must be planned, agreed and paid for.”

Sheep and beef farmer and regional NFU representative, Malcolm Roberts, said farmers were coping with the much needed rain.

"A couple of weeks ago we were concerned about facing a drought with some crops already showing signs of perish. We desperately needed some rain but it's all about balance and of course it would have been better to have had it spread out more.

"I understand that some barley crops have suffered a bit with the wind and rain. However farmers can manage with rain but we certainly can't manage without it."