Yellow warning for rain has Somerset on standby

Rain is causing flooding issues in Haselbury Plucknett, near Crewkerne

A yellow warning for rain is in place for Somerset as commuters are being asked to plan their route carefully.

The forecast comes three days after the last heavy rain event, which closed schools, flooded roads, and stopped trains in and out of the South West.

Somerset councillor Mike Rigby said: "A lot of that water really hasn't gone anywhere, the fields are still full, the land is still saturated."

A number of schools have closed for the day with others on reduced hours.

The A358 at Donyat, Ilminster, has been closed due to flooding.

There are surface water issues in the area of Crewkerne, with some flooding on the A3066 North Street in Haselbury Plucknett.

The A358 at Donyat, Ilminster, is closed due to flooding.

One Met Office weather warning came into effect at 00:00 GMT across southern and central Somerset and is due to be in place until 19:00.

A further yellow weather warning was issued for 11:00 GMT until 22:00 across the east of the county, Dorset and Wiltshire.

Wincanton races has been called off due to "significant rainfall".

The racecourse said all of the food prepared for the event will now be donated to the Wincanton Food Bank, so it will not go to waste.

The B3165 in Clapton has been closed due to the flooding

Advice from the Environment Agency (EA) and Somerset Council is to avoid travelling if you can, especially in the worst of the rain.

EA spokesperson, Ian Withers, said: "Even when surface water is quite shallow, you often then can't see the edge of the road and its easy to get stuck.

"The forecast for the middle of the day today looks pretty bleak [and] that rain will top up what is already in the river system."

The council has pulled highways crews in Somerset off some planned work to make sure the road drainage system is ready, Mr Rigby, who is cabinet member for transport, said.

"If this had come after a long period of dry weather, we'd be much less concerned," he added.

He said they saw a lot of cars "conked out" in flood water on Monday with more than 20 rescues by the fire and rescue service.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said it has performed 20 rescues from water in the past 48 hours

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said many people do not realise how detrimental water can be to a vehicle.

Group manager Seán Heighton, said: "Even seemingly shallow water can reach a vehicle's engine, suck water up and cause the car to stall and break down.

"This is particularly dangerous when on a country road or driving at night, where you may not be able to call for help or where it may take help a long time to reach you."

He said even in relatively shallow water, a strong current can knock over a person or even pick up a car.

"Finding another route may be frustrating, but being on time isn't worth taking serious risk," he added.

Rail services through the Crewkerne tunnel are expected to resume Monday

A landslip at Crewkerne tunnel from rain earlier in the week means trains between Salisbury and Exeter are currently unable to run.

A Network Rail spokesperson said engineers are working "round the clock" to try and open the route by Monday.

Somerset Council has asked people to check its X [formerly Twitter] feed for updates and expect travel disruption.