Flash floods cause severe road damage as Met Office issues UK weather warning for heavy rain

Pavements were torn up and parts of the road surface was washed away to leave behind sand while several businesses were flooded during heavy rainfall. The road was destroyed as water ‘got underneath the block paving’ and then ‘washed the sand down the street, blocking the drains and causing the water to build up at the bottom, flooding the businesses down there’.

The storm dropped almost 40mm of rain in just an hour, forcing the main road to close in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, on Sunday afternoon (12/05/2024). Town and county councillor Ed O'Driscoll, of Herefordshire Council, said: "It's been a truly awful event that has caused significant amounts of damage...It has left all of the pavement completely without any underpinning. The water was spurting through the tarmac like geysers. It has left behind what looks like a beach. We had something like 50mm of rain in an hour.

Several businesses, on Brookend Street, confirmed they had been forced to close their doors due to the flood damage. Areas of the road have been closed off, as parts of the walkways and roads are deemed unsafe.

33 flood alerts and 1 flood warning are currently in place across the UK.

Weather forecast for today (14 May 2024)

A band of rain will affect southern and western parts of Scotland, along with northern, some central and many eastern parts of England. Elsewhere there will be some warm sunshine, though with scattered showers, locally heavy. Breezy in the southwest (source: Met Office)

A weakening band of cloud and patchy rain will continue to affect southern and western Scotland tonight, along with eastern parts of England. Clear spells elsewhere. Showers persisting in the southwest.