Shropshire braced for more battering rain this weekend

Forecasters said a yellow warning for severe rain was in place for the region throughout tomorrow and Sunday.

It comes as the Environment Agency placed 91 flood warnings across Britain and 213 flood alerts, with four in Shropshire.

They are the River Teme and its tributaries downstream of Ludlow; the Rea and Cound brooks and their tributaries; the River Worfe, Wesley brook and Albrighton brook and their tributaries, and the River Teme, River Onny and River Corve and their tributaries upstream of Ludlow.

A close watch was also being kept on the River Severn at Ironbridge and Bridgnorth.

The Environment Agency said rainfall over the last 24 hours across Shropshire ranged from 0.4 to 0.8 inches (10mms to 20mms) with winds of up to 45mph.

Four people had to be winched to safety in south Shropshire yesterday after the vehicle they were travelling in became stranded in a ford at Strefford, off the A49, near Craven Arms. Fallen trees were also reported on The Mount in Shrewsbury and in Market Drayton.

Meanwhile, an ambulance station at Rhayader on the Shropshire-Wales border was damaged at 6.53pm when a tree fell on it. Police today warned motorists in the Shrewsbury area to drive carefully following reports of surface water on the A49 at Hadnall and Dorrington.

In Wolverhampton, a tree came crashing down yesterday on top of a car while the driver was sat inside. James Sutera's Vauxhall Astra was parked in a city street when heavy winds sent the tree crashing down at about 3.15pm as the man was taking a mobile phone call. He ducked and managed to crawl out of the back passenger door, escaping with bruising.

In North Wales, three children had to be rescued from Dolbadarn primary school in Llanberis by firefighters in a boat yesterday afternoon when they were prevented from leaving by high water.

The heavy winds and torrential rain also caused chaos elsewhere across the country with those injured in weather-related incidents including an elderly pedestrian whose head was cut after being struck by a tree, two teenage girls taken to hospital with head and shoulder injuries, and a female driver in her 50s who escaped with minor injuries after her car was crushed by a falling tree trunk.

Torrential downpours have so far left thousands of homes without power and more than 100 people evacuated as winds reached more than 86mph.

The rain also brought disruption for thousands of commuters. Many train services in the South West were either cancelled or delayed. Winds gusting to force six were affected services with P&O Ferries, DFDS/LD Lines and MyFerryLink to Calais, and DFDS Seaways to Dunkirk.

Virgin Trains suffered disruptions through Watford Junction, the North West, North Wales and south-west Scotland.

The AA said it had its busiest day for flood-related call-outs in history yesterday, with 804 requests for help.

North Wales Fire and Rescue received more than 250 calls and appealed for people to call only 'if you believe lives are at risk and not just to properties being flooded when the householders are able to move upstairs or seek shelter with neighbours'.