Flooding causes chaos on Shropshire roads
[gallery] Roads were closed, trains delayed and the region's rivers were today on flood alert after torrential rain hit Shropshire.
The M54 motorway at Telford was closed in both directions yesterday due to severe flooding, while some trains were brought to a standstill because of water on the line.
With heavy rain expected to last into tomorrow, flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency for rivers across the county.
For the latest Environment Agency flood warnings, click here
The Highways Agency was today monitoring the M54 after large volumes of water meant a section of the motorway between junctions six Ketley Brook and seven Wellington was sealed off for just over an hour yesterday afternoon.
Workers cleared sediment from the westbound carriageway after a retaining bank gave way under pressure from built-up water
The motorway reopened at about 4pm but the closure caused long delays and also caused congestion on roads around Telford.
The same incident, caused by a build up of water on UK Coal's Huntingdon Lane open cast site, also closed nearby Dawley Road in Lawley and Wellington for a time while council engineers dealt with surface flooding.
Telford & Wrekin Council spokeswoman Charlotte Dade said: "After the weekend weather, water had built up behind the earth bund which, given how much rain we had yesterday, eventually gave way."
She said UK Coal was now working to sort the problem out and a council engineer was still on site to monitor progress.
There were no flood alerts in place on the middle stretch of the River Severn today and no plans to deploy flood barriers in Ironbridge.
But, after heavy rain in Wales, a flood alert has been issued by the Environment Agency for the Severn/Vyrnwy confluence at Llanymynech, near Oswestry. The river was expected to peak at between 4.9m and 5.2m above summer level this afternoon, after peaking at 3.38m overnight.
A further alert was issued this afternoon for the Tern and Perry Catchment around Eaton on Tern. At 10.30am today, the level at the Eaton on Tern Gauge was 0.59m and rising slowly, and a peak of between 0.6 and 0.7 metres is expected to occur this evening.
Environment Agency rain gauges showed around an inch of rain had fallen to the west of Shrewsbury and Hereford over 24 hours, with the highest rainfall recorded at Lake Vyrnwy of 1.5 inches.
In south Shropshire, the Environment Agency issued a warning for the Onibury area. after heavy rain put strain on the River Teme, River Onny and River Corve and their tributaries upstream of Ludlow.
At 7am today, the level at the Onibury Gauge was 1.84 metres and rising. A peak level of between 1.9 and 2.1 metres is expected this evening at the River Corve. Ludlow Gauge was 2.23 metres and rising.
Residents were being urged to take precautions to protect their homes and families. There were also a number of alerts issued for the rivers Wye, Arrow and Lugg in Herefordshire.
Motorists have been affected by flooding close to Whitchurch Rugby Club as drains struggled to cope with the rain.
And Arriva Trains called a temporary halt to services on the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth yesterday after a driver reported fast-flowing water on the track outside Machynlleth. It led to the 9.30am Aberystwyth to Birmingham International being held up for more than 95 minutes, with replacement road transport put on for passengers. The line was allowed to reopen shortly after 11.30am.
Heavy rainfall was expected across Wales today, and the worst-hit areas of the country were expected to be South Wales and across the Snowdonia mountain range in Gwynedd, where new flood alerts were issued today.
MeteoGroup forecaster Gareth Harvey said: "We are expecting heavy rains and gales over the next 10 days or so."
