Events cancelled as heavy rain batters Coventry area

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Stormy weather seized Coventry and Warwickshire as the entire Midlands region was battered by high winds and heavy rain.


A sodden War Memorial Park - empty when it should have been hosting a scouting event

Events across the area were cancelled as Met Office forecasters issued a weather warning and the Environment Agency raised the alert about localised flooding.

In Rugby, a driver had a near miss yesterday when her car was within inches of being crushed by a falling tree.

The large tree caught the tail end of the driver’s car when it toppled in the high winds in Corporation Street, Rugby, blocking both carriageways of the road.

Crews from neighbouring Rugby Fire Station spent an hour in the wind and rain from noon sawing through the tree near the Cemex works so that the busy road could be cleared.

Watch commander Adam Coope said: “No-one was injured.

“It caught the back end of a passing motorist as it came down. She was understandably frightened.

“It was a big tree and it blocked both lanes so the crews had to chop it down with hand saws.”

West Midlands Police worked with the fire service to clear the carriageway.

Elsewhere, teams from Leamington Fire Station were dispatched to Pattens Road in Warwick after an aerial had toppled from a roof in the gales, bringing brickwork down with it.

And traffic was left to contend with lashing rain, excess surface water and the risk of debris, with reports that police were on hand to clear one fallen tree in Tile Hill Lane yesterday morning.

More than 25 flood alerts were issued across the Midlands, including several for Warwickshire at the River Leam and River Itchen near Long Itchington, the River Dene near Charlecote Park, the River Blyth north of Fillongley, and the River Stour in south Warwickshire.

Winds even ripped off part of the roof at a shopping centre in Birmingham.

Coventry’s annual St George’s Day parade, which sees up to 2,000 scouts march through War Memorial Park, was unable to go ahead as the park was being lashed with rain.

But organisers moved the event to the Welcome Centre, near the London Road ring road junction, where more than 600 scouts carried on the celebration indoors.

Fundraisers in Coventry who had set up camp near the fountain in the precinct had to pack up and head home yesterday lunchtime when the weather got too much.

But despite the downpour, those who had been brave enough to venture out rewarded the students from Peugeot with generous donations.

Lauren Stocker, who was raising money for Myton Hospice, said: “We’ve had a really good response from people.

"A lot of people know Myton Hospice already because they’ve had a friend or relative there and there’s a great respect for it.

“So we were finding people really wanted to give money even if they weren’t taking part in the competition, which was really nice.”

The fundraising was led by students from universities around the country who are on industrial placements with Peugeot and recent graduates on Peugeot’s grad scheme.

They were asking people to guess the number of balloons in a Peugot RCZ to win the car for a weekend.

Lauren said: “It’s the last in a run of fundraising events, including cake sales, sponsored runs and sponsored skydives that have raised more than £3,000 so far.

“The weather has been a nightmare this weekend but we knew it was for a good cause so we kept smiles on our faces despite being windswept!”

People living near rivers should visit the Environment Agency website and sign up for their free flood warnings service.

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Overnight rain forecast means flood warnings still in place

MORE heavy rain overnight could cause the River Leam to burst its banks in Leamington.

Water levels remained just below the river’s banks after the Environment Agency issued a flood warning for riverside parks and streets in Leamington town centre today (Monday April 30).

Those in the Mill Gardens area, Royal Pump Room, Pump Room Gardens, parts of Dormer Place and parts of Riverside, Adelaide Road were asked to take immediate action.

With no rain having fallen for 12 hours, the river level fell today and is expected to continue doing so over the next few hours, but more rain is expected between midnight and 6am.

Flood warnings have also been issued for the River Leam and Eathorpe, Hunningham and Offchurch, with Eathorpe village, Main Street in Huningham, Welsh Road in Offchurch and Offchurch Bury Park area at risk.

According to the Environment Agency, the river level is rising on the River Avon at Warwick but falling slowly at Rugby and Stratford. No rainfall has been recorded over the Avon catchment in the past 12 hours but further heavy rain is forecast overnight.

To report flooding call Floodline on 0845 988 1188, select option 1 and enter Quickdial number 0524344 to get more information.

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Heavy flooding closes part of A444 near Bedworth

HEAVY rain closed one lane of the main A444 road from Coventry during the early part of Tuesday morning rush hour.

Flooding and surface water caused problems on the northbound carriageway at Bedworth, between Coventry and the Odeon cinema island.

The lane was reopened at about 8.15am.

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More rain on the way for Coventry and Warwickshire, say forecasters

AFTER a weekend of heavy rain and gale force winds, forecasters in Coventry are warning that the wet weather is still not over.

Forecasters at the Bablake Weather Station in Coventry say more rain is expected this week but it won’t be as wet as it was last week.

While the sun came out and temperatures rose to around 17C across the region yesterday, the rest of the week is likely to be cooler, cloudier and with the odd rain showers.

On Monday, the Environment Agency also put into place a flood warning for the River Leam after water levels rose severely over the weekend through some parts of the town.

The latest warnings were put in place around the Mill Gardens area, Royal Pump Rooms, Pump Room Gardens, along the riverside, as well as parts of Dormer Place and Adelaide Road.

On Monday, the agency said the river levels were still rising and were expected to continue rising as more rain falls in the coming days.

This April was recorded as the wettest in Coventry since 2000.

Last week there was around 43.6mm of rainfall, compared to the 16.8mm of rain that fell throughout the whole of March.