Rain sparks road chaos fear

Heavy rain was today set to bring chaos to today's great end of school getaway.

As thousands of families look to take a break, the rotten summer weather was continuing, with several inches of torrential rain.

That was today bringing treacherous conditions on motorways throughout the West Midlands, where drivers were being advised to slow down and keep their distance.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for the region for today and tomorrow morning. Highways agency spokeswoman Annie Harris said: "We are anxious for people to check their route and the forecast before making a journey."

Traffic flow was also expected to be hampered over the weekend by roadworks on the main routes through the region – the M5, the M6 and the M42, where there are regular weekend overnight closures of junctions throughout the summer,

The northbound exit slip road will be closed on the M5 at junction 1 at West Bromwich between 9pm and 5am for carriageway repairs, as will the northbound entry slip road on the M5 at junction 2 at Oldbury.

The northbound entry slip road on the M6 at junction 10 at Wolverhampton will be closed between 10pmand 5am to enable repairs to be carried out.

The northbound exit slip road on the M42 at junction 6 at the NEC will be closed between 10pm and 5am so inspections and repairs can be carried out on the overhead gantries.

The eastbound lane of the A4099 Blackheath High Street will be closed at the High Street junction and the A4034 Birmingham Road over the weekend to enable gas main work to be carried out, while the eastbound lane of the A4100 in Cradley will be closed between the junction of Corngreaves Road and the junction of Meredith Street because of repair work.

Both lanes of the A458 Hagley Road West will be affected by roadworks at the A456 Quinton Expressway junction in Halesowen.

There are also some roadworks that may affect traffic travelling south. The northbound exit slip road of the M5 at junction 20 at Clevedon, in Somerset, will be closed between 10pm and 5pm all weekend.

Train services will, fortunately, be running smoothly over the weekend with no major problems to report on any line, although travellers are advised to check before they set out on their journeys by visiting www.central trains.co.uk or by calling 0121 6342040.