Fresh flood warnings for Shrewsbury and Ludlow after vehicles stranded and standing water blocks major routes

The Government's flood warning service said heavy rainfall in Shrewsbury meant flooding of property, roads and farmland was expected to occur from 11pm on Tuesday.

The service said: "We expect flooding to affect Gravel Hill lane, Sydney Avenue, Frankwell car park and Victoria Avenue are flooded. B5067, Berwick Road and St Julians Friars car park flooded. Predicted peak at Welshbridge 4.4 to 4.8m on Thursday morning.

"Further showers are forecast over the next 24 hours. We expect river levels to remain high for several days.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are checking defences.

"Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded."

A new flood warning was issued for the River Corve at Ludlow, where overflowing water was expected to affect homes, highways and land from midnight onwards into Wednesday.

A statement on the flood warning service's website said: "We expect flooding to affect properties and roads in the Corve Street area of Ludlow.

"Further showers are forecast over the next 24 hours. We expect river levels to remain high until Wednesday morning, 03/01/24.

"We are closely monitoring the situation."

It came after at least five people were rescued from vehicles stuck in water within two hours in Shropshire on Tuesday evening. Earlier, drivers were told to avoid a main Shropshire trunk road as flood water has left a number of vehicles stranded.

West Mercia Police said the A41 in Market Drayton was flooded and vehicles had become stuck.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the force's Operations & Communications Centre said: "The A41 in Market Drayton is currently flooded and vehicles are stranded in floodwater. Please find an alternative route."

Rail replacement buses were running between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton after all lines were blocked because of the extreme weather.

West Midlands Railway said: "All lines are blocked between these stations.

"Road transport has been ordered between these stations, calling at all stops."

Near Shrewsbury, a major traffic island was "completely flooded" and police urged motorists to exercise caution.

The Operations & Communications Centre team said on X: "The A49 island in Shrewsbury at Preston Island towards A5 is completely flooded. Flooding expected in surrounding areas. Please take extra care."

Meanwhile, National Highways said on Tuesday afternoon it was assessing whether to close the A49 in Shropshire and was advising motorists to avoid the road.

People posting on social media reported flooding on the road between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton and on the stretch from Ludlow to Leominster. A video showed water across the road between the turnings for All Stretton and Church Stretton.

One of the motorists, Emily Baker, said the Onibury level crossing was "waterlogged".

Duty operations manager Nick Wilcox said: “We’ve seen significant rainfall across the region which has caused some flooding on the A49 in Shropshire. Our teams are currently en route to assess the situation at the scene.

"Our advice for motorists is to consider using an alternative route and to leave additional time for their journey due to the weather conditions.”

A number of roads have become impassable due to flood water in the county and surrounding areas.

In Telford and Wrekin, Walcot Road in Rodington Heath was closed due to flood water. Individual roads in Telford were also swamped with standing water.

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesperson said: "At the moment the teams are out and about across the borough.

"Due to land already being saturated as a result of recent storms, and the continued rainfall this week, we are experiencing surface water flooding in locations around the borough and crews are working to address issues they can, as soon as possible."

On the south Shropshire border the A4110 south of Leintwardine was closed both ways between the Brampton Bryan turn-off and the Walton turn-off. Further south, it was shut between the B4529 and the Monkland north of Leominster.

Near Welshpool flooding closed the A490 from the A458, Sarn Bryn Caled roundabout, to the Leighton turn-off. AA Roadwatch said the road was impassable in both directions, while standing water has also been reported on the A458 in Shropshire on the approach to Middletown, near Welshpool, and further south on the A483 near Garthmyl and Abermule.

Near Bridgnorth, the A454 Wolverhampton Road was also slow in many places due to being waterlogged.

Facebook user Karen Durnall said at 4pm: "Bridgnorth Road to/from Wolverhampton is pretty awful. The road is completely covered in these places. The bottom of the dip by Swancote is really bad."