Summary

  • Residents evacuated from their homes in Gloucestershire - with Alney Island badly affected

  • Thirty-two flood warnings issued for Gloucestershire with water surrounding Tewkesbury

  • Twenty-five flood warnings for Wiltshire - with river levels rising in Bradford-on-Avon

  • A landslip at Crewkerne is blocking railway lines from Yeovil and Exeter

  • The railway line between Swindon and Bristol Parkway is still closed - days after it first shut due to flooding

  • The Reading to Taunton line is also closed due to flooding

  1. Gloucestershire could be 'third worst' in county for floodingpublished at 08:08 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Roads around the Tewkesbury area have been affected due to rising river levels
    Quote Message

    The flooding could be the third worst to take place in the county, but not as bad as 2007. It's a very difficult situation for Gloucestershire. There's a lot of water in the county and a lot of water coming down from Worcestershire, the Severn and the Avon where they meet at Tewkesbury, that's where they squeeze through and then come through Gloucestershire. The flood plains are already full. The river levels are high and they are going to be high for the coming days. How much higher they're going to be is difficult to predict but people are talking about 2007. We're not going to get to those levels but it's going to be a very high flood for Gloucestershire and lots of people need to be careful this weekend.

    Nick Green, Environment Agency

  2. Taunton and Reading line closedpublished at 07:54 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Great Western Railway (GWR) has confirmed the railway line between Reading and Taunton is closed due to heavy flooding.

    Train services running to and from the stations are being either cancelled, delayed or diverted via Bristol Temple Meads.

    GWR said it expected disruption until the end of the day. It has advised people to check before they travel.

  3. Landslip at Crewkerne blocking linespublished at 07:53 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    South Western Railway said a landslip at Crewkerne had blocked all lines.

    Rail services running through the station might be cancelled or delayed, with disruption expected until the end of Friday.

    A spokesperson said it will not be able to operate services between Yeovil Junction and Exeter, due to the landslip.

    South Western Railway is asking people not to travel by train between those stations today.

    South Western RailwayImage source, South Western Railway
  4. Maisemore drone footage shows extent of floodingpublished at 07:43 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Media caption,

    Drone footage of the flooding at Maisemore

    Drone footage has captured the extent of flooding in Gloucestershire.

    The footage, taken from Maisemore, shows a number of flooded fields, as the county deals with the aftermath of Storm Henk.

    Roads have been closed and trains cancelled due to torrential rain over the past week. Great Western Railway has advised people not to travel.

    Credit: Neil Connor

  5. Environment Agency concern for Bradford-on-Avonpublished at 07:43 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Environment Agency spokesman Ian Withers urges drivers not to drive at speed through flood water as it creates barrel waves, can cause more damage to homes.

    He has warned the biggest area of concern this morning in Wiltshire is Bradford on Avon, which may be first to be upgraded to a severe flood warning.

    Mr Withers added disruption and road closures are expected, with real risk of homes and businesses being flooded.

  6. More than 30 flood warnings for Gloucestershirepublished at 07:30 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    There are 32 flood warnings issued for Gloucestershire and the wider area by the Environment agency, with a further 26 lower level flood alerts.

    It covers the area where the Severn enters Gloucestershire from the north and as it makes its way into Tewkesbury.

    The Environment Agency have said they are expecting it to be "quite a flood" for Gloucestershire.

    Many are expecting this to be quite an event as it peaks in Gloucester later but not quite at the levels of 2007.

  7. Residents evacuated from Alney Islandpublished at 07:26 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Flooding at Alney Island

    On Thursday night residents of Alney Island - an island on the River Severn in Gloucester - were evacuated from their homes due to high flood water levels.

    Gloucester City Council advised people to go to GL1 Leisure Centre.

    Alney Island is a strip of land sitting between two channels of the River Severn, measuring 2.1 miles (3.3km) long and 0.7m (1.1km) wide and is managed by the city council as a nature reserve which is open to the public.

  8. Flooding updates for the Westpublished at 07:21 Greenwich Mean Time 5 January

    Good morning - we will be providing you with updates on flood warnings, alerts and the weather for the West, after people in Gloucestershire were taken to rest centres because of the flooding risk to their homes.

    Gloucester City Council said flood defences were "close to overtopping."

    Hundreds of flood warnings and alerts are in place for the West after heavy downpours.