Birmingham Children's Hospital is reminding those with appointments to bear in mind traffic disruption across the city following the discovery of a World War Two bomb in Aston.

Image source, Twitter

Aston Expressway near the hospital is closed for a second day and rail services in and out of Birmingham have been subject to cancellations.

There is no word yet on when either situation is likely to improve.

We've heard plenty about the World War Two bomb in Birmingham and how it is affecting travel and those whose homes are near the site.

But how did the German device come to be dropped on Aston?

Historian Carl Chinn told BBC WM his theories - and possible dates for when the bomb fell.

Image source, Paige Collins

He said: "Birmingham was a major munitions centre, as was Manchester and Coventry, but on 19 November 1940, the Germans attacked Birmingham very heavily.

"It seems to me it was dropped on 19 November when the raid began and carried on for nine hours, or else the next night, 20 November, where nearby Queen's Road was absolutely destroyed by a big bomb." 

Sandbags at dawn... West Midlands Police has shared this picture of army personnel who are using tonnes of sand to make safe the World War Two bomb found in Aston on Monday. 

Image source, West Midlands Police

We're into day two of the disruption across Birmingham and surrounding areas following the discovery of a World War Two bomb in Aston.

On the BBC Midlands Today Facebook page, external, you've been giving us your thoughts - among you, those who remember military personnel are risking their safety while traffic and trains draw to a standstill. 

Image source, BBC / Facebook

Nicki White said: "This must be a real challenge. Good luck guys." He's right - the Army has told us its work in Aston is operationally complex, with, among other constraints, the bomb's fuses on the underside and pressed into dirt.  

Facebook user John Olorenshaw added: "Hoping to negotiate my way past this area... Good luck the UXB Disposal guys and girls."

Susan Daly commented: "Hopefully all goes well and all stay safe."

You can get in touch with us here, external and here, external. 

Daniel Wainwright
Data unit

Here are the bomb's crucial stats...

Image source, BBC/West Midlands Ambulance Service

And here's another - the Army says it's filled with 130kg of high explosives.

Here's the World War Two bomb - loaded with 130kg of high explosives - that has closed roads and cancelled trains across Birmingham.

Image source, West Midlands Police

As part of Army work to make safe the large device, 13 lorry-loads of sand weighing about 250 tonnes has been brought to its location in Aston.

Army major explains what is being done with the 250 tonnes of sand driven to site in Aston.

Bleary-eyed residents have been describing their night in a stadium after WW2 bomb found near homes.

Wrong kind of snow? Leaves on the line? You've seen those reasons for rail delays, but you don't expect to see this one flash up while waiting for a train.

Rail services are disrupted between Lichfield and Birmingham New Street today as the Army tends to a World War Two bomb in Aston - services are suspended and could be subjected to cancellations for most of the day., external

Image source, Claire Fry

If you want to use Cross City services south of Birmingham New Street, you're in luck - and you can also get to Walsall and Rugeley from Birmingham's central rail hub, although not from Aston, where the bomb was found yesterday, or a number of neighbouring stations.

But following on from Monday afternoon, no train service is operating at all between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley - the route runs parallel to the location of the device where the Army is working to make it safe.

Birmingham New Street has shared this handy guide to help get you around, including details of a replacement bus service, although it says, external local buses are experiencing delays.   

The Red Cross is helping those affected by evacuations ordered when a World War Two bomb packing 130kg of high explosives was discovered at a construction site. 

We've been bringing you details of rail disruption throughout the day and there's not much joy on the roads either - Aston Expressway remains closed for a second day and is set to stay that way, police say, for most of Tuesday. 

Dealing with the World War Two bomb - said to be packing 130kg of high explosives - is proving particularly "complex" for the disposal team because of tricky conditions on site, an Army major says.

Mike Luedicke says the fuses on the device - discovered at a construction site in Aston on Monday - are "on the underside and pressed into the earth and so our process of identification and diagnostics has been a real challenge".    

West Midlands Police suggested operational difficulties yesterday, saying "there have been some difficulties in accessing the device given the terrain and its position".

But the team is confident that it has identified the type of ordnance with which it is dealing - Major Luedicke says it is most likely a German SC250 - weighing 250kg of which 130kg is high explosives.

He says it is "very unlikely" to go "bang" unless the team does "something silly to it".

Major Mike Luedicke who is overseeing the Army's operation at the site in Aston where a World War Two bomb was uncovered says the team is currently "at the stabilisation phase."

He added it has brought in 13 lorry-loads of sand weighing about 250 tonnes.

That, he says, gives the team "a great degree of safety around the site".

The Army's Major Mike Luedicke is heading up the operation in Aston to make safe the large, German, World War Two bomb discovered yesterday.

He told BBC WM "a large number of Second World War bombs [are] still out there, un-found, they've existed for 70 years untouched so it's very, very, very unlikely it will go bang unless we did something silly to it". 

Major Mike Luedicke is the deputy commander of the Army's UK bomb disposal unit. He's coordinating the operation to make safe the World War Two bomb uncovered in Aston yesterday - a find that has closed a major road network in Birmingham and disrupted rail travel between the city and Lichfield.

He told BBC WM the disposal team thinks it has identified the type of ordnance with which it is dealing. 

"In this particular case, we are very confident this is a classic Second World War German air-drop bomb - it’s called an SC250; 250kg in weight, 130kg of high explosives."

Image source, West Midlands Ambulance Service

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

Businesses evacuated on Monday when a World War Two bomb was discovered in Aston are still waiting to hear whether they will be able to return today.

Donna Shiel is office manager at Forrest Tools and Pressings on Tame Road in Witton which falls within the exclusion zone put up around the location of the German shell - thought to weigh about 500lbs. 

She said communication from emergency services about the need to evacuate was slow and, at first, only factories "round the corner" were emptied, with no message that her workplace should follow. 

During World War Two, hundreds of thousands of bombs were dropped on Britain - they are still being found more than 70 years later. 

Despite their age, they are not mere relics. But how much do we know about them? And how many of these devices are out there? 

Here's a history.

Paige Collins was among those who spent the night at a gym in Birmingham's Alexander Stadium following the evacuation of residents living within 500m of a World War Two bomb discovered at a construction site in Aston yesterday.  

She stayed at the venue with her ten-month-old daughter and slept "for about an hour" on a mat.

Ms Collins added evacuated residents were given food yesterday evening by volunteers, including chicken casserole, pasta and meatballs - which she understood to have been made at HMP Birmingham. 

She said about 50 people remained at the venue.  

Image source, Paige Collins

West Midlands Police said it evacuated "hundreds of homes" yesterday as a 500m exclusion zone was erected around the site where a large, German WW2 bomb was found in Aston.

About 80 people were forced to spend last night in a rest centre, the Red Cross said.

Birmingham City Council has shared this image of the meals provided for people at Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre in the city's Alexander Stadium. 

Amid the travel disruption, a police officer has shared a reminder that military personnel are risking their safety to protect the public.