Image source, AJ Abrar

A dog has been swept away by the river in Redditch after going in chase a stick at Arrow Country Park.

AJ Abrar said he went into the water to try to rescue four-year-old Bonnie and managed to catch hold of her, but had to let go to save himself.

He was rescue by the emergency services, after a passer-by raised the alarm and the search is still going on for Bonnie.

He said Bonnie was a strong swimmer who often jumped in the river there, when the water levels were lower, and he was trying not to lose hope.

"We're going to go look for a body, or anything, whatever we can find, and start searching until we can bring her home," he said.

"She was an amazing dog, she was a TikTok star."

West Midlands Railway has said passengers with tickets for the Hereford to Birmingham route will be able to use them tomorrow.

It has cancelled those trains today, because of the stormy weather and said it was unable to offer replacement buses on the routes between Worcester, Hereford and Birmingham for the same reason

The company has advised all passengers to check before travelling and warned there may be changes to services at short notice.

The wind is just as much a problem as flooding and it said trees or branches blown on to overhead lines or the track may take some time to remove, if it is not safe for engineers to go out.

Image source, GrannyAnne

With more heavy rain forecast, the Met Office has issued an Amber weather warning for Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and parts of Birmingham, the Black Country, Shropshire, Coventry and Warwickshire.

It said this could cause fast flowing or deep flood water which could be a danger to life.

The Met Office also warned there could be flooding to homes, disruption to public transport and a chance some communities could be cut off by road closures.

It also issued a Yellow weather warning for the rest of the West Midlands, including most of Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Because of the forecast heavy rain there will be no West Midlands Railway services between Birmingham New Street and Worcester or Hereford, external today.

Buses will replace the affected services.

There were reduced services on the Cross City Line from Lichfield Trent Valley and Birmingham New Street to Redditch and Bromsgrove, with two trains per hour operating on this route throughout the day.

But the good news is there are no road closures reported yet in Worcestershire. Shropshire Council said it was keeping an eye on known trouble spots.

There have been a number of Christmas lights switch-on events that have been called off because of the weather.

The organisers of one in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter said it was a "devastating decision to call of our wonderful event" and it was the last thing they wanted to do.

A market is still going ahead with an opening party at The Button Factory.

Bedworth Outdoor Market has also been called off because of forecasted high winds, external, but the covered market will be open as normal.

A Christmas lights switch-on has also been cancelled in Bulkington, Warwickshire.

Organisers said on Facebook , external that they were "gutted".

They said the Christmas market and funfair were unable to operate in high wind speeds, with rainfall of up to 10cm expected.

We so far have more than 20 flood alerts, external around the West Midlands this morning, but no flood warnings yet, which cover more serious incidents.

The alerts cover a wide area, including Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and parts of the Black Country.

Image source, Step Counter / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Environment Agency

The Environment Agency has been putting up flood defences, with more heavy rain expected.

They include the defences in Hereford and Bewdley (pictured below). Flood pumps are also being installed in Worcester's Hylton Road from 18:30, with the road being closed for that work.

Storm Claudia has arrived in the West Midlands.

We'll be following the latest on weather warnings, flooding and disruption through the course of the day, with more heavy rain expected., external