BBC Radio Shropshire

People in the Longden Coleham area of Shrewsbury have been talking to the BBC about how they cope with floods like this.

Ron Targett is a volunteer working at a local attraction, the Coleham Pumping Station.

He said: "We're well drilled on it, because it's nearly year on year now."

Mr Targett also said they tend to get on with it and said outside help is often "more of a hinderance".

Lisa Butler, the owner of the Forget Me Not florist, said her shop is clear of the flooding at the moment, but her previous store used to have water seeping up through the cellar floors.

Nevertheless the blocked roads were a concern to her, because of the loss of trade.

Ms Butler also said there was a great community spirit among people in the area and they all helped each other out.

A short video shows water lapping against the glass at flood defences in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire.

The bridge over the river was still open, the county council highways team said.

Elsewhere in the county, the council said, external Bewdley remained "open for business" despite several routes being flooded.

They include Beale's Corner, the town bridge and B4184 Switchback but the authority added the bypass was open and there was also access still available via Pewterer's Alley.

Image source, Worcestershire County Council

The River Severn might have peaked elsewhere but towns like Ironbridge in Shropshire are still waiting for the worst of it to come their way.

It is expected to peak there this evening at up to 6.3m (20ft) and the barriers remain in place along the Wharfage.

There are also a number of roads closed to traffic, including The Lloyds, the Wharfage and Ferry Road.

Image source, Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust

Craig Jackson (pictured below) from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said he had been working to prepare the town for the rising flood-waters.

He urged people to stay clear of flood-water but to support those local businesses which were able to stay open.

Image source, SFRS

Drone footage has really changed the way we are able to see flooding and these images from John Staines and Dave Clancy show us Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa from the air.

Image source, John Staines

Image source, Dave Clancy

In both towns, the river levels appear to have peaked for now but the Environment Agency warned that it was likely to remain high for some time.

Back to Worcester now, and here are some shots of the flooding in the city this morning.

The pictures were taken by BBC Hereford and Worcester's Stewart Kingscott and Callum Halling:

Longden Coleham in Shrewsbury may be under water this morning but Daryl Lloyd, who runs the Cross Foxes there, is planning to have it open again tomorrow.

He had pumps in the cellar, keeping the water away from the electrics, and plans to get inside as soon as the river drops, to jet wash and disinfect the pub.

"It's happened so many times we know exactly what we've got to do," he said.

He was expecting a busy weekend, if the Severn can keep away from his pub, with Shrewsbury Town due to host Wrexham on Sunday.

Mr Lloyd said: "It's come to the point now where we expect it every year now although we shouldn't."

He said the community spirit among businesses in that part of town had a "fantastic community spirit" but it did feel they were a "forgotten little corner of Shrewsbury" at times.

West Midlands Fire Service has stressed the danger flood-water can pose following this rescue in Birmingham.

Liam Stych had to climb a bridge and smash a car window on Tuesday to rescue a mum and her three-year-old daughter moments before it washed away in floods in Hall Green.

Although the weather is set to turn drier, waterways were still expected to remain high and the service urged people to keep out of flood-water whether in a vehicle or on foot.

Water would be moving much faster than people think, it added, and you cannot see what was beneath the surface.

With the school holidays still underway for many, parents and carers were urged to make sure their children understood the dangers of flooding., external

Tim Page
BBC News Online

River levels at some key locations in our region on Thursday appear to have reached their peak for now:

• In Shrewsbury at 08:30 GMT, the gauge read 4.70m (compared to a record level of 5.25m in 2020)
• Worcester levels appear to be flatlining at about 5.53m, 26cm short of that area’s highest-ever in 2020.
• The Avon peaked in Stratford-upon-Avon overnight at 2.27m, nearly 26 years after its highest level there of 2.71m.
• The Wye in Hereford is falling from a peak of 5.18m overnight, nearly a metre short of its 2020 record.

Image source, Dr0newerks

Elsewhere, river levels on the Tame in Tamworth (pictured above), where there has also been serious flooding, are also on the way down for now, after reaching a peak of 2.65m.

And the same is true in Burton-upon-Trent, where the Trent peaked at 3.87m.

Some areas downstream of these readings will see rising levels through today and the Environment Agency is warning rivers will remain high for some days to come.

Hereford Leisure Pool is not open today after "a small amount" of water made its way into the centre, staff said.

The temporary closure of the building on St Martin's Avenue was for the safety of customers as the River Wye continued to rise, they added.

Image source, Facebook/Hereford Leisure Pool

BBC Weather Watchers

The BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing photos of the flooding around our region today.

This collection are from Shrewsbury, where the River Severn is holding steady at about 4.68m (15ft) this morning and has burst its banks in places.

Image source, Neos Ramble

Image source, Neos Ramble

Image source, Sarah

More than 30 roads remain closed this morning due to flooding, Herefordshire Council announced.

It stressed that even if water levels on some routes have dropped, they would not reopen until they have had a safety inspection.

Roads affected by flooding include the A465 Alyestone Hill and A4110 at Leintwardine.

Here is the council's latest list of closures., external

It is an "improving situation" on the River Teme this morning, the county council, external highways team has said.

Routes including the A44 at Knightwick and A4103 at Bransford are open.

But First Worcester is warning a number of its bus services are facing diversions due to the flooding.

The full details are here, external.

Image source, Worcestershire County Council / X

Here are some more drone images of the flooding around our region, this time from Shrewsbury.

Here you can see the Quarry and the Porthill footbridge and beyond that the town centre.

Image source, Moogies Media

Image source, Moogies Media

Flooding in the town is forecast to peak this afternoon at up to 5m (16ft).

These latest floods have been bringing back memories for many of us of flooding across the West Midlands in previous decades.

For instance, this photo of flooding in Worcester in 1947 was sent to us by Peter Howard.

The floods that year were some of the worst on record and he said it was taken by his father from the Malvern Road.

Image source, Peter Howard

Have you got any photos of of previous flooding where you live and memories of what happened?

You can email them to us at newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk

Photographer and drone operator Phil Harrison captured the scene as floods left many of Worcester's roads under water on Wednesday.

It was a similar picture in Bewdley as Storm Henk left its mark across the UK.

Multiple flood warnings remain in place.

Kate Tebby
Journalist, BBC Shropshire

Bridgnorth rugby club had been hoping to open its new clubhouse on the banks of the River Severn at the end of this month.

It's being built on stilts to avoid constant disruption from flooding - but that advantage doesn't stretch to the current building work, which will face a short delay.

Ian George from the club told me: "We can't wait to get in there. There'll be no lifting chairs, lifting ovens, moving fridges."

He said they'd been unable to insure the old clubhouse because of the risk of regular flooding, a problem the stilts would avoid.

While river levels should have peaked by the end of today, Nick Green from the Environment Agency warned the flooding was going to be with us for a while.

We were not forecast more storms or heavy rain but he said: "All of the rivers are going to remain high."

Mr Green said people would continue to see flooding for a number of days yet and fields would remain wet even after the water had gone from our homes and roads.

Image source, Dr0newerks

Mr Green also said when he started 30 years ago, people used to talk about floods you would only see once in your lifetime, but now he said "we're just stepping from one big event into the next".

In these circumstances, he said the agency was just doing the best if could to prepare, warn and protect people.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A village church in Herefordshire has been flooded following the heavy rainfall.

St Michael and All Angels Church in Bodenham became waterlogged as a result of the rising levels of the nearby River Lugg.

A pump had been installed at the church last winter but residents said the river was at an all time high further upstream.

Church choir member Peter Tomlinson said: "In the last 10 years, it has been far worse than it ever was before."

But he said there had been a huge improvement since the pump was installed and that the flood plain had held the majority of the water.

"As you can see now, it's flooded all the way to Hereford pretty well in one great big lake," he added.

Six bridges are closed around Worcestershire this morning along with many roads.

The affected bridges are the Bewdley Town bridge, the B4194 Switchback, the B4196 Lenchford, the Sabrina and Diglis bridges and the bridge on the B4211 Hanley Road, the county council said.

Meanwhile Shropshire Council again urged people to walk or use the park and ride service to get into the centre of Shrewsbury, because the Frankwell, St Julian's Friars and Raven Meadows car parks remain closed.

David Gregory-Kumar
Environment correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

Why is it events that we referred to as "once in a generation" seem to now happen every winter? Well it all comes down to climate change.

I have been Environment Correspondent for the BBC in the Midlands for more than 25 years now, which means I can look at flood stories not just as one-off events but in terms of the story they tell.

Take Leominster in Herefordshire, which sits where the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater meet.

We have records of levels of the River Lugg going back to 1970 but if we look at floods of more than 2.6m (9ft), most happened post-2000 and, of those, six happened in the last three years.

Actually thanks to the current spate of flooding, make that seven.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Glidezilla

The shorthand I have used my entire career for talking about climate change is: Drier, hotter summers and warmer, wetter winters, containing more extreme rainfall events.

As the atmosphere warms, it can hold on to water better - but when it dumps it as rain, it really pours out of the sky.

Statistics from the Met Office show more weather events with an extraordinary 20mm (0.8 inches) of rain per hour and they predict we will see more of these events in the future.

You can never say climate change has caused any one flood event.

But over a career, I can look at the trend and say, as predicted, climate change is driving these changes.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Edward