Shrewsbury on alert as river levels rise and car parks, parks and roads begin to flood
Car parks were beginning to be swamped by water on Wednesday as three Flood Warnings around Shrewsbury were issued following recent heavy rainfall.
Frankwell Main and Frankwell Riverside car parks in the town were closed on Tuesday, as the Environment Agency began erecting the Phase 2 section of the Frankwell flood barriers - in preparation for the potential impacts of melting snow and rain.
By Wednesday lunchtime the Environment Agency had issued three Flood Warnings for the River Severn around the town.
In the morning, the agency said that that Gravel Hill Lane, Sydney Avenue, Victoria Avenue, Frankwell car park and St Julian's Friars car park were flooded and a Flood Warning was in place.
Another Flood Warning was issued after river levels around the Showground and The Quarry in Shrewsbury had also risen overnight and the Environment Agency said flooding was expected to affect offices at the Showground and Gravel Hill Lane.
Areas of the Quarry had begun to flood by Wednesday morning.
Around noon on Wednesday, the Environment Agency also issued another Flood Warning around the Frankwell flood barriers with the agency warning that flooding was possible in the area.
However the agency said: "As the Frankwell barriers have been deployed and are fully operational, we are currently not expecting protected properties in this area to be impacted."
Elsewhere in Shropshire, flood alerts were in place for a number of areas, including the River Tern near Wem where the Environment Agency said river levels were "high but steady", although it added that flooding could affect low lying land and roads adjacent to the river from Wolverley to Newport. Other locations that may be affected include Market Drayton, Wem and Rodington.
The agency also issued a flood alert for for low lying land and roads adjacent to the River Severn from Shrewsbury to Upper Arley, with locations likely to be affected including White Abbey, Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth.
Meanwhile, river levels were also high at the Severn Vyrnwy confluence, south of Oswestry. Consequently, the Environment Agency said they expected flooding to affect low lying land and roads from the Welsh border at Llawnt to Shrawardine near Shrewsbury. Other locations that may be affected include Llanymynech, Maesbrook and Melverley.
The agency also issued an alert for the Upper Severn in Powys, which they said could see roads close to Caersws, Cilcewydd, Trehelig, Welshpool and Llandrinio.
Water levels at the Welshbridge river gauge on the River Severn were were expected to peak at 3-4 to 3.6 metres by Wednesday afternoon.
But the Environment Agency said: "Further rainfall is forecast over the next few days. We expect river levels to remain high for the next few days. We are closely monitoring the situation.
"Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.
