Huge 17-hour Met Office weather alert issued as flood warning activated in Tewkesbury
It's almost at the stage when not having a severe weather warning in Gloucestershire is news. Because once again, the Met Office has acted over worsening weather conditions to sound the alarm for further heavy rain and the associated risk of flooding.
This time, the warning runs from 4pm on Sunday through to 9am on Monday - right into the morning rush-hour. Most of Gloucestershire is covered by the yellow alert, including Gloucester, Cheltenham, the Forest of Dean, Stroud, Cirencester and much of the Cotswolds.
People are warning that further heavy rain is likely to cause travel delays and flooding on the Sunday evening and night. The Met Office forecast for Gloucestershire has heavy rain from 6pm on Sunday through to 7am on Monday.
READ MORE:Two new Met Office weather warnings issued on Sunday, September 29, as 60mph winds and rain hit
A Flood Warning has been issued for the River Severn at Severn Ham, Tewkesbury. This means flooding is expected, act now.
The warning from the Environment Agency reads: "River levels are rising at the Mythe Bridge river gauge as a result of recent heavy rainfall. Consequently, flooding of roads and farmland is expected this evening [Sunday, September 28].
"We expect flooding to affect properties and roads in and around Severn Ham, Tewkesbury.Predicted Peaks:- Mythe 3.5m to 3.6m this evening 28/09/24
"Further rain is expected on Sunday afternoon into Monday 30/09/2024. We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are checking defences and liaising with emergency services and or Local Authorities."
The Met Office has outlined what to expect during the 17-hour weather warning.
Some interruption to power supplies and other services is possible
Spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer
Bus and train services probably affected with journey times taking longer
Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely
Between 20-30mm of rain could be seen within the warning area over nine to 12 hours on Sunday, and 50-80mm could fall in some localised places on higher ground, the Met Office said. Becky Mitchell, Met Office meteorologist, said it was “not a huge amount of rain” but because of the recent weather “rivers levels are quite high and grounds are quite saturated”, so more flooding could develop.
Gusts of between 50-60mph could be seen, with large waves, trees brought down, travel disruption and some power cuts, Miss Mitchell said. There could potentially be further rain warnings issued for Monday, but it is forecast to be drier later in the week, she added.