Fresh flood warning for Shrewsbury as more rain on its way
A new flood warning has been put on the River Severn in Shrewsbury, with the county bracing itself for more torrential rain to add to the already swollen water.
Flood barriers are up in both the county town and further downstream at Ironbridge, while hundreds of acres of farmland are under water upstream.
As well as the flood warning in Shrewsbury there are lesser flood alerts for the entire length of the Severn in Shropshire as well as on the Upper Teme in the south and the Tern and Parry to the north.
The Wharfage and bottom of new Road in Ironbridge closed to traffic on Monday as the Environment Agency moved in to put flood barriers in at the edge of the river while Telford and Wrekin Council made sandbags available to residents worried about the height of the water.
As work to put up the temporary barriers took place the fast moving Severn was still several feet below The Wharfage and businesses remained very much open for business.
Nigel Byard from Ironbridge Antiques Arts and Crafts Centre said: "We’re open as usual today but The Wharfage is closed as they are installing the flood barriers. There is lots of rain coming later in the week from Wales."
Heavy rain was expected across Shropshire and Mid Wales for Tuesday with a yellow weather warning in place for the west of Shropshire and a large part of Wales. The forecast is then for showers for the rest of the week with temperatures dropping.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Frequent and sometimes persistent bands of rain across Wales and the Upper Severn area have resulted in saturated and full catchments, raising river levels along the Severn.
"These levels are not uncommon at this time of year and more rain is forecast for the week ahead. To reduce the risk of flooding to communities, we worked with our partners to deploy barriers at Shrewsbury and at Bewdley last week. Further barriers were deployed at Ironbridge and Bewdley this week."
“We continue to monitor the situation. People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgencyMids on Twitter for the latest flood updates.”
In Ironbridge, Buildwas Road will remain open unless it floods, buses will be turning at Wharfage Car Park and Abraham Darby as usual and all local car parks remain open.
Sandbags are available to residents who are concerned about potential flooding and can be collected from: Ladywood; Ironbridge Central Car Park; Wharfage Car Park; Coalford and Ferry Road.
The Environment Agency's flood forecast for the next five days predicts a 'low' risk of flooding for residents along the Severn in Bridgnorth.
