Flooding 'still poses a risk' as river levels begin to fall - update from Environment Agency

Rivers around the county remain high on Monday after the heavy rain of last week - but after a much drier few days, levels are beginning to fall.

Several flood warnings and alerts have been removed over the weekend, including at Rea Brook and Cound Brook, the River Dee from Whitchurch to Chester and River Lugg north of Leominster.

But the Environment Agency is still warning that flooding of the River Severn is continuing, and still poses a risk.

Major peaks of the county's main river have now passed, reaching 3.4m on Friday evening at the Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury, 5.1m at Buildwas on Saturday afternoon, and 4.4m on Saturday evening in Bridgnorth.

Flood barriers, which had gone up on Friday in Ironbridge, were being dismantled on Monday morning.

A spokesperson for the government agency said: "River levels are falling, but still pose a flood risk. We expect river levels to remain high for several days.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are checking defences. "

An alert remains in place for the Severn Vyrnwy confluence, with flooding expected to continue on low-lying land and roads adjacent to the river from the Welsh border at Llawnt to Shrawardine near Shrewsbury.

Other locations that may be affected include Llanymynech, Maesbrook and Melverley but the Environment Agency has said that "no further significant rainfall is forecast".

A flood alert for the Tern and Perry catchments also remains in place, with the levels of rivers and streams from Wolverley to Newport expected to remain high. Market Drayton, Wem and Rodington may also be affected.