Flash flooding in Herefordshire causes major disruption across the county

It's led to school closures and roads being overfilled with water.

Author: Hannah RichardsonPublished 17th Oct 2024

Flash flooding in Herefordshire has forced schools to shut and caused disruption on the roads.

The area has seen heavy downpours for over 24 hours - with the Met Office having warned between 50-80mm of rain would fall within six hours.

Rivers have been bursting their banks causing roads to be overfilled with water and closed.

The council is urging people to avoid driving through flood waters for their safety.

Schools have been forced to close their doors as well, as Peterchurch Primary posted on Facebook pictures of classrooms filled with water.

In a statement on social media they said: "Due to the intense rainfall and substantial amount of water flowing from the fields into school, parts of our school building have been severely flooded, and a significant amount of damage has been caused.

"On advice from the Local Authority and after surveying the damage, the school will be closed for the next 2 days (Thursday and Friday) in order to keep pupils and staff safe and to make repairs to the affected areas.

"We will be working tirelessly over the next few days to find a solution to ensure that we can get back to normal as soon as possible, teachers will be uploading work online for pupils."

Other schools that have closed their doors are Longtown Primary, Michaelchurch Escley Primary, and Fairfield High School.

Hereford Leisure Centre has cancelled their gymnastic classes, as the sports hall there has been hit by flooding.

Significant flooding also caused the Circus in Hereford to cancel their show.

It's expected that further disruption will be felt across the county for the rest of the week, before water levels begin to drop.

To find out more on the situation, visit the Environment Agency's website.

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