Shropshire put on floods alert

The Environment Agency placed flood alerts on stretches of the River Severn thorough the county as well as the Tern and Perry catchments and the Severn Vyrnwy Confluence at Maesbrook. While most areas peaked yesterday, in Bridgnorth The Severn was expected to peak this afternoon.

The highest river level yesterday was recorded at Crew Green, near Welshpool, where the water reached 5.13m at 8.30am, while at the Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury the river peaked at 2.37m at noon.

It reached 3.36m at Buildwas but was this afternoon falling.

The rivers Tern, Perry, Roden, Strine and Meese within the Tern and Perry catchments were also placed on alert with the gauge at Rodington, near Shrewsbury, reaching a peak level of 1.03m yesterday.

It comes as heavy showers continued to hit parts of the UK today. This afternoon 47 areas across England and Wales were on flood warning or flood alert.

Experts said flood risks remained in the south-west of England and parts of Wales following days of heavy rain which brought chaos to coastal towns in England and Scotland.

A 33-year-old angler in Hartlepool died after being swept away in a fast-flowing stream just after 3pm on Saturday.

The man, and his 57-year-old relative, were airlifted to hospital following the incident at Becketts Bank, but a Durham Police spokesman today confirmed the 33-year-old man had died.

Fire crews were called out after strong winds brought a tree down on a road near Welshpool. The tree collapsed on the B4390 between Bettws Cedewain and Berriew at about 9.30pm on Saturday.

In Scotland the severe weather on Saturday killed a crewman after stormy seas overcame a vessel in the North Sea. Eleven people had to be rescued when Vos Sailor, an emergency response and rescue vessel, suffered damage and started taking on water 120 miles off Aberdeen.

In Sunderland a coastguard rescue operation was launched after 15 anglers were knocked over by a freak wave on Roker Pier.

By David Seadon