Monday, April 30, 2012

Part of Britain on flood alert as more heavy rain is forecast in the coming week - @TelegraphNews

"Environment Agency teams are out on the ground continuing a close watch on river levels as well as checking defences and clearing any potential blockages to reduce the risk of flooding."

Ian Lock, landlord of the Boat Inn at Ashleworth, which is south of Tewkesbury next to the River Severn, said the water was "worryingly high".

"If we'd had a high tide on Saturday night we would have had trouble - thankfully we didn't - just another three or four feet and we would have had problems.

"We still could flood, the worry is if other towns further up the river put their flood defences up the water will come down here and we'll suffer."

South West England and Wales were battered by gusts of up to 71mph yesterday, while other parts of the country also suffered from strong winds and further downpours.

Trees and debris bringing lines down led to around 10,000 homes being left without power in south Wales and the West Midlands, as well as 2,000 in the South West, Western Power said.

Meanwhile Cardiff Council received reports of up to 60 trees brought down by the weather across the city.

Over a 24-hour period, police in Gloucestershire received more than 60 reports of trees down and localised flooding, and officers were called to help with a large tree that came down on the A417 near Cirencester.

Flooding was also seen across Devon and Somerset, with incidents in Kingskerswell, Brixham, Paignton, Barnstaple, Nethercott, near Lydeard St Lawrence, Bickenhall and West Hatch.

The latest downpours came at the end of a particularly wet week for England and Wales, in which 1.7in (42mm) of rain fell in the south east and 2.2in (55mm) in the south east, which has now had 166 per cent of the average rainfall for April.

Many areas at risk of floods are currently in a state of drought, which is gripping the south east, East Anglia, the Midlands, the south west and south and east Yorkshire after two unusually dry winters in a row.

Despite one of the wettest Aprils on record, the water is not penetrating deep enough into the ground to raise groundwater levels which remain too low, the Environment Agency said.

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