Sunny spells on way as West Midlands recovers from torrential rain
Sunny spells are set to descend on the West Midlands after torrential rain caused travel chaos.
It comes after rain swept across the region leading to weather warnings being issued by the Met Office on Tuesday.
And surface water remained on roads today with traffic held between the M6 Junction 4a for the M42 link and the M6 Junction 5 for Castle Bromwich.
Drainage work was carried out which closed one lane of the stretch at around 5am this morning.
Now sunny skies are expected in the build up to the weekend – despite a few showers – with highs of 17C (62.6F) in the Black Country and South Staffordshire.
It comes after the torrential weather on Tuesday led to a lane closure on the M5 northbound, between Junction 3 for Quinton and Junction 2 for Oldbury, for an hour due to flooding.
And passengers were hit by a range of delays as heavy rain and thunderstorms descended on the region, with a tree blocking the railway line between Smethwick Galton Bridge and Langley Green.
But people were quick to take advantage of the rain yesterday – including Jane Osborne, from Codsall, who let her two sons play outside near a flooded brook.
The 41-year-old took 10-year-old Thomas and eight-year-old Todd down Moatbrook Lane, where it had flooded.
She said: "There's a brook at the end of the lane and whenever we get lots of rain it always collects there.
"It subsides very quickly – there used to be a ford there years and they diverted the brook off.
"It was just a chance for the kids to have a bit of a play."
"The brook only floods during periods of severe rain, with the site – near Wood Road – having been filled on two occasions in the last three years.
"I was going by on Tuesday evening and it was there for about two hours before it went," she said.
"We live on the lane, so as soon as I realised it was full we went outside into the water."
"It was just for the kids to take a dip.
"They stood out there for 20 minutes and then we went back home."
Heavy rain is expected to fully clear for tomorrow, leaving bright spells and a few scattered showers – which are expected to move on quickly.
Further sunshine and scattered showers will take place on Friday, with a drier day on Saturday – before the rain returns for Sunday, the Met Office said.
