We’ve spoken to Dave Throup (Environment Agency Manager for Herefordshire & Worcestershire) this evening ahead of the heavy rain that is forecast for tomorrow and Saturday.

“We’re expecting some very wet weather over the next 48 hours with upland parts of Wales forecast to receive up to 4 inches (100mm) of rain.

Heavy rain won’t only be confined to the hills though and even lowland parts of Herefordshire may see up to 2 inches (50mm), some of it very intense.

As a result we may well see some significant surface water flooding initially and then rivers responding. If we do get the forecast amounts of rain we expect to be issuing a number of flood alerts and warnings across the county through the course of the weekend.

We’ll be opening our main incident room in Tewkesbury tomorrow to plan and coordinate our response and are ready to operate our flood defences if they’re needed.

We’re encouraging everyone to stay vigilant, keep abreast of the latest forecasts and check our website for the latest warnings and river levels.”