UK flood warnings remain in place after deluge

Andrew Hough in the Telegraph (UK): Authorities warned of a continued threat of flooding to homes across the Midlands, northeast, West Country, south west and Wales. Today, almost 80 flood warnings remained in force across swathes of the south while more than 110 flooding alerts were in place.

Flood defences remain in place along parts of the River Severn, in Shropshire and Worcestershire. The Environment Agency said the river should peak on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. Officials said they expected river levels to recede shortly after.

Parts of North Yorkshire also remain under threat from rising groundwater levels. Forecasters said there was a risk of a few showers over the next few days after a fine and dry start to the New Year.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Looking at the forecast it looks like a few showers which hopefully won't send the levels back up again. "There could be some spells of surface water flooding around the patch in the next week as well, so it's not quite time to put the sandbags away."....

A UK traffic sign