Express & Star

More rain on the way

More wet and windy weather is set to hit the West Midlands in the coming days, forecasters have warned.

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The snow making driving conditions difficult on the M5 near Frankley services yesterday. Picture: Highways England

It comes after drivers were urged to beware of ice while out on roads across the region today after temperatures dipped overnight.

Today was expected to be mostly sunny and dry, following a frosty start, with highs of around 3c (37.4F) and lows of -1c (30F).

But the Met Office says the wet weather is set to return tomorrow as bands of rain sweep through the country.

Heavy downpours are being forecast for the morning, which will likely turn to showers by the afternoon.

Saturday is also expected to be another mostly wet day but with bigger gaps between the showers, said Met Office spokeswoman Emma Sharples.

"Although it's unsettled, there will be some drier weather," she added.

Temperatures, however, will be higher heading into the weekend with the mercury expected to rise to about 10c (50F) across the Black Country and Staffordshire.

Following downpours on Boxing Day night, a flood warnings was issued by the Environment Agency for the River Stour and Smestow Brook in Dudley and South Staffordshire yesterday.

An alert was also put in place for the River Sow and River Penk in parts of Staffordshire.

While snow showers made driving conditions difficult in some parts of the West Midlands and brought disruption at Birmingham Airport with people heading back to work after Christmas.

Thousands were left without power across the UK as wintry weather swept in overnight, with Western Power Networks saying more than 350 homes had been cut off in the Black Country and Birmingham alone.

The runway at Birmingham Airport was closed for a period overnight and some flights were diverted due to snow flurries before it reopened yesterday morning.

There were also warnings of flooding as overnight snow thawed with two lanes of the M5 blocked southbound between junction two at Oldbury and junction three at Halesowen.

The outside lane was also impassable in places on the M5 towards the M42.

There were also reports of delays to trains through Birmingham New Street station.

People faced delays of up to 10 minutes on Virgin Trains West Coast between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton due to safety checks.

And there had been delays of up to 20 minutes on West Midlands Railway services between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley due to late finish of engineering work.