Flood barriers fail as Bewdley becomes latest town under water

The Worcestershire town of Bewdley was underwater today after flood defences finally failed in the face of unprecedented flooding and the ever-rising River Severn.   

Photographs taken at Beale's Corner in the riverside town, which straddles the Severn north of Worcester, show floodwater pouring over the top of temporary barriers erected in the wake of Storm Dennis.

Video footage captures water from the Severn crashing over flood barriers for the first time in decades and consuming an area close to homes and businesses near the riverbank. 

Firefighters were scrambled to the town yesterday to evacuate residents, with paramedics on scene to assist the vulnerable and elderly. Emergency workers also tried in vain to pump floodwater back into the Severn.
 

 

Tonight there is more misery to come, the Environment Agency warns, when the River Severn is expected to come close to its highest recorded level, which was just over six yards (5.56m) high in November 2000.  England has now seen more than 200 per cent of its average February rainfall, with four days of the month still left to go.

The Met Office has warned of further showers across the UK today, followed by even more rainfall tomorrow and on Friday, with up to 0.4in (10mm) expected to fall on the River Severn's source, the Welsh hills.   

Wintry showers in the North West will also continue tonight before hill snow spreads across the southern third of the UK, with rain possibly turning to low-level snow over the Midlands and East Anglia into tomorrow. 

Meanwhile anger has been growing at how the Government has reacted since the bad weather began three weeks ago when communities in Yorkshire were flooded after Storm Ciara, in scenes reminiscent of Boxing Day 2015.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has still not visited the flooded regions that voted him into power 11 days after storms and torrential downpours ruined homes and devastated businesses.

Victims have criticised the £500 they can claim in compensation when they are flooded. The grants were announced by the Government earlier this month as part of a raft of measures designed to help people affected.

The snow continued to affect commuters today, with several accidents on motorways in Cheshire amid the conditions, with part of the M53 closed near Little Stanney and a section of the M62 shut near Warrington.





MailOnline