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Shugborough Estate shut as flooding continues to cause disruption

Wet weather continues to cause disruption across the region, with warmer conditions on the way – along with more showers.

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Shugborough Estate is closed due to the weather conditions

Forecasters predict sunshine and warmer weather across the West Midlands and Staffordshire over the weekend, with heavy rain also expected tomorrow morning.

Flooding continues to affect low-lying roads and land next to the River Sow, between Great Bridgeford and Shugborough.

It has also hit roads near the River Penk between Coven and Stafford, as well as the nearby Sandyford Brook, the Rising Brook, the Ridings Brook and the Saredon Brook.

Flooding at Shugborough, where a flood warning is in place

A flooding alert has also been made for roads near the River Sow, while the Environment Agency has 17 flood warnings and 56 flood alerts in place across the country today.

National Trust's Shugborough Estate near Stafford has also been forced to close due to excessive rainfall which has left parts of the garden flooded.

Current river levels at the River Severn have risen, with flooding of roads and farmland possible over the next few days, the Environment Agency warned.

Another photo of flooding at Shugborough

Water rose to a height of 10.7ft (3.263m), with river levels expected to peak in the coming days.

The usual range in more extreme weather conditions is between 0.68ft (0.21m) and 10.8ft (3.30m) – and current conditions mean the water has been between those two levels for the majority of this week.

High Hill road in Essington also remains flooded – and has been for three days, photographer Garry Jones said on Facebook.

High Hill in Essington was flooded. Photo: Garry Jones
High Hill in Essington was flooded. Photo: Garry Jones

Forecasters predict heavy rain will sweep in after a dry start tomorrow, with sunshine and warmer conditions expected by late afternoon.

Temperatures are expected to hit around 16C (60.8F) over the weekend.

Train passengers stranded

The weather has caused major transport disruption up and down the country this week, with hundreds of train passengers stranded as a result of a landslide in the East Midlands on Thursday.

Around 400 passengers were stuck for up to eight hours when a landslip near Corby stopped a London to Nottingham train and saw a second train that came to rescue them also become stuck.

One person was treated by paramedics at the scene.

Train operator East Midlands Trains apologised to the customers involved in the incident, calling it a “challenging situation” due to rubble and serious flooding curbing rescue efforts.

There were two serious crashes on the M54 and M6 on Friday morning as rain continued to pour down and add to surface water on the motorways.

On the M6, a lorry driver was trapped for almost two hours when his vehicle crashed into a tree and down a bank near Stafford at around 6am.

Part of the northbound motorway was shut throughout the morning as firefighters worked to free the man and the lorry was recovered.

Meanwhile an eastbound stretch of the M54 was closed near Albrighton after a white hatchback overturned.

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