Good job cricket season has finished! - forecast (From Worcester News)

Good job cricket season has finished! - forecast

11:40am Thursday 27th September 2012 in News By Catherine Phillips, Reporter

THESE are the scenes across Worcestershire as flood waters continued to rise forcing rivers to break their banks.

At Worcestershire County Cricket Club on New Road, water had come on to the cricket ground overnight and by Wednesday morning had flooded the marquee.

It has been making its way across the Basil D’Oliveira stand as the river Severn is expected to rise a further 30 to 60cm to peak this evening.

Fortunately, no games have had to be cancelled as the club played their last home fixture on Thursday, September 6. On South Quay, the swans seem to have been enjoying the extra room as the river broke its banks flooding on to the pathways outside Browns.

Both the river Severn and the river Teme burst their banks in places, although the new river defences held their own.

At Upton-upon-Severn Environment Agency engineers closed the floodgates in the newly installed flood defences, and the seals held tight.

And at Powick, the hams and surrounding fields which make up the floodplain again did their job taking the brunt of the floodwaters from the Teme which peaked overnight on Tuesday, and into Wednesday.

David Throup, area environment manager for the Environment Agency, said they expected the river Severn to rise another 20cm before it peaks on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, a speed restriction has been placed on the rail track where a giant hole opened up on Monday following downpours.

Services at Colwall train station resumed yesterday morning with the first train, the 4.29am Hereford to Worcester service, arriving at Ledbury three minutes early.

Worcester News weatherman Paul Damari said it had been the wettest September since 1981.

There was nearly 70mm rain in a 36-hour period this week when you would normally expect 72mm since the start of September to now.

He added: “It’s looking a little bit better, it’ll be mostly dry today with some rain, but it will be light and isolated showers.

“On Friday it will be a fine day and Saturday there will be some sunshine.”