West Midlands floods: Roads damaged and homes damaged... and there's more rain on the way

Severe weather warnings were issued advising around the country, with fears that some areas could see more than 30mm of rain in an hour.

The Environment Agency issued 10 flood warnings suggesting immediate action is required and 35 alerts meaning flooding is possible.

The West Midlands had some of the worst weather and the Met Office's yellow warnings of rain on Friday also cover Wales, the East Midlands, the East of England, the South West and London and the South East.

Dudley and South Birmingham were the worst hit in the region, with a pub forced to close, a children's home evactuated and roads around Merry Hill shopping centre being submerged.

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) said they had been called out to deal with 5,000 litres of water in the radiotherapy section of the old Queen Elizabeth Hospital but no patients were present.

At least five people were trapped in their cars and about 100 properties affected by water on Sir John's Road in Birmingham, and residents were told to stay upstairs.

Today, West Midlands Fire Service said: "We handled in the region of 1,000 calls between 6pm Thursday and 3am in the early hours of Friday.

"Firefighters attended 91 priority incidents across the West Midlands, 45 of which were flood-related. Most of the weather incidents were in the south Birmingham and Dudley areas. Among the worst affected places were Selly Park, Pershore Road, parts of Harborne and Woodgate Valley.

"A total of around 1,000 West Midlands homes were at risk of flooding throughout the night, with 100 actually affected in the Pershore Road area of Birmingham."

WMFS Area Commander Ben Brook praised staff and firefighters who 'tirelessly responded to incidents in spite of challenging and sodden conditions.'

He said: "Although we believe that the worst of the weather has now passed, we are still asking people to be vigilant and to beware of the likelihood of intense rain with little notice.

"There is also likely to be a lot of standing water on roads, and we would remind people not to enter floor water either in vehicles or on foot. There will also be debris and waste on some roads, so drivers should be alert.

"In spite of the horrendous spate conditions, we believe that no-one was seriously hurt and would like to thank people for their patience and support throughout."

Some roads were left badly damaged by the water:

The the tracks at Lye train station were left submerged, sparking delays on the rail network.

WMFS firefighters urged road users to only travel if absolutely necessary and said they had been inundated with 999 calls, having received around 900 between 5pm and 10pm on Thursday.

Ben Brook, WMFS area commander for emergency response, said: "Flooding seems to be a more regular occurrence across the West Midlands, and we've responded to hundreds of weather-related incidents over the past eight days.

"Whilst our careful planning provides resilience for our communities, the large number of calls from flash flooding over the past week have placed a strain on our fire control and crews.

"We'd like to thank the general public and our partner agencies for their support over the past week."