Pennerley: Shropshire's wettest village where it never rains but it pours
The village of Pennerley was the centre of attention for Shropshire weather watchers today after being revealed as the wettest place in the whole country on Wednesday.
Pennerley, just over 14 miles south west of Shrewsbury, had almost 4cm of rainfall within 24 hours.
The quiet village has faced a deluge of downpours since the weekend, with some houses suffering flooding.
Artist Patricia Evans, from Tankerville Gallery, saw her workshop floor drenched. When she heard that Pennerley had the most rainfall of anywhere in the UK, she was not shocked.
She said: “I’m not surprised. It’s been horrendous to be honest for the last few days. It’s just stuck on us. We’ve had a lot of clouds and high winds. It’s been a bit better today.
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“We sometimes see weather like this when you get a lot of snow, but you don’t expect it in the middle of June.
“We’ve had our workshop flooded out. There has been flooding in some of the houses down the road as well. They never normally get it.”
Elsewhere the Royal Hill pub in Edgerley, near Shrewsbury, was counting the cost after the wet weather. The pub is near River Vyrnwy in Melverley, which has been subject to a flood warning for the last two days, meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required.
Landlord John Bewley said: “It has affected us. People can’t get to us. Most of the roads are underwater. You can’t expect people to drive through it.
“The frustrating thing is that you expect this in the winter, not in June. You budget for it. This time last year we were doing 150 meals a day. I’m not going to do one today.
“In business, that’s what happens. The farmers must be devastated. There are hundreds of acres of crops that are underwater.
“It’s difficult because you have to lay staff off and try and run things on your own. I’m hoping it doesn’t get to the stage where things start going off and I have to get rid of beer and food.
“I’ve been here 20 years now and I’ve never seen flooding like this. It’s been two days of solid rain and we’re all like drowned rats.
“It’s been a reality check. But we’ll come back from it. Things could be much worse.”
