Bewdley flood warning issued as 28-hour weather warning for rain starts

The Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for the Wribbenhall area warning motorists and walkers to avoid low lying roads and footpaths which may be flooded watercourses and to plan driving routes.

The agency said barriers at Beales Corner will not be deployed due to the construction of the town's new Flood Risk Management Scheme.

The river is expected to peak at Bewdley 4m to 4.3m on Tuesday afternoon.

The warning is in place as a Met Office weather warning for rain, running from 3pm on New Year's Day to 9pm on Tuesday, comes into force.

In its forecast, the Met Office said: "Following recent wet weather, further spells of rain, heavy in places are expected on Monday evening and overnight. Then after a brief gap, another spell of heavy rain is likely to spread northeastwards on Tuesday.

"Over the warning period, 15-30 mm rain is likely to fall fairly widely, with a few places seeing 35-50 mm."

Warning of the rain causing the river level to stay high, the Environment Agency stated: "Further rainfall is forecast over the next few days. We expect river levels to remain high. We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are liaising with emergency services and local authorities.

"Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded."

Further updates on the river level and flood warning are expected on Tuesday morning.