Shropshire slowly returning to normal as floods subside
Shropshire was slowly returning to normal today as swollen river levels which have caused flooding across the county start to slowly subside.
Flood warnings have been removed from the River Severn in Shrewsbury and flood barriers in Ironbridge have been dismantled.
However, the barriers remain in place in Frankwell in Shrewsbury, possibly until tomorrow.
Shropshire Council has said the St Julian's Friars car park is now fully open, and Frankwell's main car park partially opened at 9am yesterday.
More parking spaces will be available each day as flood levels continue to go down. Frankwell Riverside car park remains closed .
The Environment Agency said despite improving weather conditions, river and groundwater levels were still high and urged vigilance.
Agency bosses said no flooding was expected in Shropshire for the next few days as gauges at Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury, Buildwas and Bridgnorth continued to show levels dropping.
Levels at the Welsh Bridge Gauge were at 2.72m yesterday evening and falling after a peak of 4.04m at 2.30am on Wednesday morning. Water levels had also subsided to 4.59m in Buildwas after a peak of 5.32m.
In Bridgnorth, where the river peaked at 4.45m on Tuesday, levels had returned to 3.93m by Wednesday afternoon and were still dropping.
The forecast has revealed showers could return over the weekend across Shropshire with more rain by Monday.
Across the country 530 properties have been flooded since December 19.
The Environment Agency said it had also sent more than 136,000 warnings to people at risk but flood defences had protected more than 21,870 properties.
