River Severn Flooding: Homes and businesses evacuatedon February 22, 2022 at 8:05 am

People have been rescued, properties evacuated and trains cancelled due to flooding along the River Severn.

A major incident has been declared in Bewdley, Worcestershire, and large parts of Shrewsbury town centre are under water.

A severe flood warning is in place at the Wharfage in Ironbridge, meaning there could be a risk to life, and the barriers are expected to be breached.

There are 23 flood warnings across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Transport For Wales said there were no trains between Hereford and Shrewsbury on Tuesday because of flooding on the line. Several roads have also been closed.

The flooding follows heavy rain during three storms over the last week – Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.

Franklin hammered parts of the UK with strong winds and heavy rain on Monday and came days after Storm Eunice killed three people and left 1.4 million homes without power.

Late on Monday evening, Shropshire Council said the fire service had rescued 14 people and four dogs from the Melverley area of the county.

It said “many properties, roads and farmland” were flooded in and around Melverley and the “high river levels” had meant some people had needed to be evacuated.

One person was rescued by the fire service from Smithfield Road in Shrewsbury at about 02:45 GMT.

In Ross-on-Wye, the river has burst its banks and spilled out on to the flood plain.

People living near the temporary flood barriers in Bewdley are being advised to leave their homes before they are overtopped, which is expected to happen later on Tuesday.

Of the 23 flood warnings in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, 12 are on the River Severn, including at Worcester where extra flood pumps have been installed on Hylton Road which is flooded between McDonald’s and the bridge.

Nick Green, from the Environment Agency, said it was not anticipating that defences at Upton upon Severn “were breached at present but [we’re] keeping a close eye”.

He added: “In Worcester we’re looking at levels that are similar really to 2020 so there were some impacts there in terms of flooding for low-lying roads in Worcester city centre itself.”

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