Several flood alerts are in place with rivers rising, schools closed and roads closed in Herefordshire.
Heavy rain has been falling once again this evening, with routes such as the A44 impassable at Knapton and large areas of standing water on the A49 between Hereford and Ludlow and also the A44 near Leominster.
Peterchurch Primary School has announced that it will be closed for the rest of the week following flooding this morning.
An email sent to parents this afternoon said:
“Thank you to everyone for your support and understanding with the school closure this morning.
“All staff and pupils have now got home safely.
“Unfortunately, due to the intense rainfall and substantial amount of water flowing from the fields into school, parts of our school building has flooded.
“On advice from the Local Authority and after surveying the damage, we will be closed for the next 2 days in order to keep pupils and staff safe and to make repairs to the affected areas.
“We will be working tirelessly over the next few days to find a solution to ensure that we can get back to normal as soon as possible, and we will keep you all updated when we can.
“Teachers will upload work for the children to complete via class Dojo, and please message us if you have any concerns or worries.
“A BIG thank you to Peterchurch Fire service and all the staff who stayed and looked after the children, even the bus of Fairfield children who were stuck.
“We are surrounded by a wonderful community and everyone’s help is appreciated.”
Flooding has caused a number of issues across Herefordshire today, with a number of road closures in place this evening.
The following road closures are in place:
B4348 from Madley to Dorstone
C1207 Peterchurch
B4347 Ewyas Harold
A480 Mansel Lacy
A4110 Wigmore
A4110 Canon Pyon
B4399 Holme Lacy
Watery Lane – Hereford
A4112 Sarnesfield
A438 Winforton
B4521 Broad Oak
Other routes, such as the A480 (Credenhill to Yazor) have standing water but are passable with care.
A number of schools also closed early for the day. These include the following:
Fairfield High School, Kingstone Academy, Clifford Primary School, Longtown Primary School, Almeley Primary, Michaelchurch Escley Primary School, Weobley High School, Brookfield and Peterchurch Primary School.
A Flood Warning is in force on the River Arrow at Kington, Eardisland and Pembridge.
A Flood Warning is in force on the River Teme in Leintwardine and Walford.
A Flood Warning was issued on the Dulas Brook in Ewyas Harold this morning however levels have since fallen.
The Flood Warning, issued by the Environment Agency says:
“River levels are rising at the Ewyas Harold river gauge as a result of heavy rainfall.
“Consequently, flooding of property, roads and farmland is possible today, Wednesday 16/10/24.
“We expect flooding to affect the main road via the left bank at the chip shop. Properties on Prill Road may be impacted.
“Further rainfall is forecast over the next 24 hours.
“We are closely monitoring the situation.
“Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded.”
More Details – https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/target-area/031FWFDU10
A Met Office weather warning is in place across Herefordshire until 9pm on Wednesday.
Areas of heavy rain are expected to develop and push north across the warning area.
The first area of rain will continue north this morning, then a second area pushes northeastwards this afternoon before clearing during the evening
Many places will see around 10-20 mm of rain, but there is a chance some locations may see considerably more than this over a 6 hour period, most likely parts of southwest England and south Wales.
A few places may see 50-80 mm of rain fall in 6 hours.
Isolated thunderstorms are also possible in the south of the warning area, with lightning an additional hazard.
Flood alerts are also in force on the River Arrow, River Frome, River Lugg, River Wye and River Leadon in Herefordshire, with levels expected to continue to rise over the next 24 hours.
