Flood warnings remain across Britain after half a month’s rain falls in one hour
Flood warnings are set to continue in the UK today after half a month’s worth of rain fell in a single hour last weekend.
The heat wave and the sunny weather it brought were all but blunted by heavy rain, hail, strong winds and lightning storms smashing Britain last weekend.
On Saturday, 35.6mm of rain fell in Woodhouse Mill, near Sheffield, between 6pm and 7pm.
England’s Environment Agency (EA) issued dozens of flood alerts as torrential rain led to flooding in parts of the country Sunday morning.
The flooding chaos is set to stretch well into today, with Scotland and the Midlands bearing the brunt.
While the Environment Agency removed 35 flood alerts this morning, a warning remains firmly in place at the River Cole by Coleshill in the West Midlands.
This means flooding is expected in the area.
‘Flooding is affecting properties around Station Road,’ the agency said. ‘Further light rainfall is forecast over the next 12 hours.’
Seven flood warnings have been given in rivers and bodies of water across other patches of the West Midlands, including near Birmingham and Warwickshire, as well as Leicestershire in the East Midlands and the Black Country.
‘There is uncertainty, however, over the amount of rainfall expected and the exact location of these thunderstorms and heavy rain,’ the Environment Agency said of the Black County, which covers Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall.
Where are the floor warnings and alerts in place in England?
The Environment Agency has issued one flood warning, meaning that flooding is expected:
- River Cole at Coleshill
While seven flood warnings have been given, meaning the flooding in those areas is ‘possible’:
- Loughborough urban watercourses and local tributaries to the River Soar
- River Blythe in Warwickshire
- River Cole
- River Rea
- River Stour and Smestow Brook in the Black Country and South Staffordshire
- Upper Tame
- Upper Tame at Sandwell Valley
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has also warned that floods could soon tear through Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh and Lothians, Scottish Borders and West Central Scotland today.
Scottish flooding officials added that the surface water could lead to floods.
There are no flood warnings in place in Wales.
But the Met Office has issued a yellow warning in Northern Ireland, with a looming thunderstorm forecast from 1pm to 8pm, with ‘localised flooding and disruption’ expected.
Travel delays and power outages could come with it, meteorologists warned, and lightning strikes could damage buildings.
The waves of rattling rain and thunderstorms prompted the Met Office to also issue six flood warnings on Sunday night.
The damage floods can do to local communities was seen in full force in Wrexham, North Wales, where police said that the flooding made some roads ‘impassable’ yesterday.
Wrexham AFC said the 1864 Suite restaurant inside its Racecourse Ground had to be evacuated, forcing diners celebrating Father’s Day out.
‘In the wake of the torrential rain that hit the region late this afternoon, some structural damage has resulted in a large leak inside the Macron Stand reception area,’ the club said.
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