Flood warnings remain as storm clean up continues

Volunteers in Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, all chipped in to help the village reopen its shops and community buildings

Clean-up operations have continued after Storm Claudia caused record flooding in parts of the West Midlands.

Herefordshire Council has been carrying out safety inspections and sent out cleaning vehicles after wind and rain lashed the region on Friday.

The Dulas Brook in Ewyas Harold reached record levels of 2.99m (9.8ft) while 80.6mm of rain was recorded in 12 hours in Suckley, Worcestershire. Flood warnings were in place in Shropshire and Worcestershire for the Severn, Avon and Teme rivers with levels peaking on Monday morning in Shropshire.

Ewyas Harold village shop owner Bennie Krige was on holiday in South Africa when he saw the water rising on his CCTV and immediately booked a flight home.

"I was sat in Cape Town and I just knew that I needed to book a flight," he said.

"I sat having dinner with my wife and I just called for the bill and said 'we've got to get to the airport now, I've got to get on a plane' and so I jumped on a plane two hours later."

Ewyas Harold Fire Station said flood water reached a record high on Friday

Village shop owner Bennie Krige was in South Africa and said he knew he needed to book a flight

An investigation by Herefordshire Council began after last year's floods, but local people want something to happen now to prevent future flooding.

Malcolm Watkins, from Ewyas Harold Group Parish Council, said: "In a terrible way [it'll]... actually give us some impetus to move things forward more quickly than may have happened before."

Carrie Gladwin said she wondered if it would happen again in four weeks' time

Resident Carrie Gladwin stated: "Just wonder whether we've seen a lifetime's event or whether it's just gonna happen again in four weeks' time. You just don't know."

The Temple Bar Inn owner Gino Fulgoni said: "[You] just see it coming and what can you do? You just feel very helpless."

Councillor Malcolm Watkins said there would be "impetus to move things forward"

The Environment Agency carried out work in Ewyas Harold on Sunday to remove debris

Barry Killner, response lead from the Environment Agency (EA), attended the village on Sunday to support residents.

He said the agency had removed debris that had caused small blockages, such as a large tree trunk stuck under a bridge, and made plans to remove larger debris that had been moved by flood water.

Matt Lawrence, from the EA, said: "We learn from every flood event and we've got staff out liaising with those affected communities and over the coming months we'll be investigating if we can do anything more."

The road surface in Ewyas Harold has been affected

Travel continued to be disrupted with no rail services running between Shrewsbury, Hereford and Cardiff due to water on the line, while flood warnings were in place in Shropshire and Worcestershire for the Severn, Avon and Teme rivers.

Transport for Wales warned passengers not to attempt to travel between Shrewsbury and Newport on Sunday.

The train provider said no services were running due to flooding in multiple places along the line - which passes through Hereford and Leominster.

It added that flooded roads meant rail replacement services were also not running and disruption was expected until the end of the day.

Herefordshire Council said the A4110 in Eardisland was closed as vehicles had blocked the road and prevented work from being completed.

The River Severn has burst its banks in Montford Bridge, Shrewsbury

In Shropshire, flood warnings were in place for the River Severn, where river levels remained high.

The river has burst its bank in Montford Bridge, near Shrewsbury, with flood water narrowly avoiding homes.

Adverse weather conditions were expected to continue as the UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert for the West Midlands and other parts of England from 08:00 GMT on Monday until 08:00 GMT on Friday.