Flooded towpath warning as Shropshire weather turns wild

It comes after men were seen climbing over a locked gate after they walked along a partly flooded footpath.

With wet and windy weather predicted for the rest of the week, warnings have been issued to pedestrians, motorists and householders to be vigilant.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of wind, with gale force gusts of 60-70mph expected across the Midlands this afternoon. The Met Office has named the storm Barney, the second storm to be officially named in the UK after Abigail.

In Shrewsbury, the River Severn was expected to peak at 10pm yesterday with water levels expected to decrease downstream and no problems expected through Ironbridge.

The main Frankwell car park was today expected to be open as normal.

But upstream in the Melverley and Maesbrook areas the flooded roads and fields could remain underwater for the rest of the week as the Severn Vyrwy confluence struggles to cope with the water pouring off the Lake Vyrnwy Dam, which recorded the second highest rainfall level – 82 millimetres – in Britain at the weekend.

Even with levels in Shrewsbury falling, Shropshire Council said the towpath could remain shut for much of the week.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "When river levels rise, or are predicted to rise, to levels that will overwhelm the river towpath in Shrewsbury, the gates on the towpath are closed to limit access to it.

"They remain closed until the levels subside and are predicted to remain below the path level for more than a day or two. People are urged not to climb over any closed gates until such time as the path has been inspected and it is safe for it to be opened up."

Dave Throup, spokesman for the Environment Agency, said that the levels of the Severn were not excessively high for this time of year and said the Shrewsbury flood barrier was on its lowest level.

He urged drivers not to attempt to drive through flooded roads. "It is not worth taking the risk. At the weekend I saw two vehicles trying to drive through a flood at Maesbrook. The first car made it – the second didn't," he said.

In Mid Wales train passengers had to use a bus service as flooding closed the line between Caersws and Machynlleth.