Shropshire Star

Barriers are up in Shrewsbury as six flood alerts in place for Shropshire

Flood barriers were up in Shrewsbury today as six flood alerts were in place for the county.

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Flood barriers being put up in Shrewsbury. Photo: James Roberts.

A team from the Environment Agency erected the low level barriers in Frankwell last night after the evening panto performance at Theatre Severn.

Flood alerts were earmarked for The River Severn in Shropshire, The River Worfe, The Severn Vyrnwy Confluence,Tern and Perry Catchments and Upper Teme.

The Environment Agency deployed the lower stages of the barriers in Frankwell on Thursday evening after Theatre Severn’s evening pantomime performance.

The water level peaked by the Welsh bridge at midday today, when it was at 2.5m, close to the levels when flooding is possible.

At the same time on Thursday, the river was rising and hit 2.2m. In the week leading up to the snow melting the river was at less than one metre.

Meanwhile, flooding was possible in Buildwas as the water levels peaked at 3.7m at midday, 2.5metres higher than the water level before the snow and ice thawed.

In Crudgington flooding was possible as the water peaked at 1.5m.

In Bridgnorth the water levels peaked at 2.9m, which is just inside the typical range for the area.

The River Teme in Ludlow peaked at 2.1m one metre higher than in the week.

The swollen River Teme in Ludlow. The Environment Agency will be out over the weekend monitoring river levels. Photo: Severn Rivers Trust.

The River Corve in the town peaked at 2.1m on Thursday, and settled at 1.9m today.

Flooding was possible in Onibury, where the levels were at 1.7m, after peaking at 1.8metres in the early hours of Thursday.

Dave Throup, from the Environment Agency, said: “Things are pretty stable now, there’s still quite a bit of water to come down from the Welsh mountains.

“The rivers are going to stay high until at least Sunday.

“It’s likely they’re going to stay where they are, but they may rise a bit.

“We’ve got the low level defences up and we’re going to leave them until at least Monday.

“One of the reasons for that is we want to minimise disruption that would be caused by taking them down and putting them back up again.

“There’s no plans to put anything else in place, these will more than cater for anything else.

“By the time the water goes past Shrewsbury the levels are dropping, we’re not expecting problems in Ironbridge or Bridgnorth.”

Today a new Yellow warning for ice was issued for Shropshire, from 5pm today until 11am on Saturday.

It says ice will be a hazard in places on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The extent of hazards looks like being somewhat lower than preceding days, but where wintry showers fall, or there is still patchy snow cover, icy stretches are likely on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths."

Gritters were hitting the road in Shropshire again this afternoon.

Bicton Primary School, in Shrewsbury, remained closed as it is still without heating. Dothill Primary School in Wellington remains shut after a water mains burst.

Saturday's Telford parkrun has been cancelled as there is still snow and ice on the course.

Shropshire Council today said that bin lorries will be out on Saturday to try to catch up with missed collections from this week.

It tweeted: "Please note they will be concentrating on wheelie bins so if your boxes were missed they will be collected on your next scheduled day."