Pumps installed after 'wettest week in 12 years'

Extra pumps are being installed after "the wettest week" since 2014, experts have said.

Parts of Somerset experienced heavy rainfall over the weekend and the area is also expected to be badly affected by Storm Chandra, which has seen a weather warning put in place from Monday evening until 09:00 GMT on Tuesday.

The A361 is closed between Burrowbridge and East Lyng, and the local authority and the Environment Agency (EA) is working to mitigate further risks.

Ian Withers, the EA's area director, said: "Since new year in Somerset we've had about 200mm already, with 100 of that happening over the weekend. That is pretty much the wettest week in Somerset for about 12 years."

The Somerset Levels are designed to flood, with rivers like the Parrett, Tone and Yeo prone to overflowing into the surrounding moorland.

The EA is already pumping at North Moor and Saltmoor but further pumping has been restricted by high river levels.

"We are moving extra high-volume pumps into key locations across Somerset Levels and moors to help those pumping stations move that water as quickly as possible into the river Parrett and out of harm's way," said Withers.

"We can cope with what's predicted in the next 24 hours. If we then get a bit of respite it means the rivers will subside a bit and give us a bit of capacity to move that water out of the moors."

Storm Chandra brought an amber weather warning to more southern parts of Somerset while areas to the north, including Bristol and South Gloucestershire, have a yellow warning in place.

The storm is being brought over by a deep area of low pressure but the storm classification has mostly come from the preceding conditions.

It is the third major storm to hit the UK this month after Goretti and Ingrid, which caused significant damage and disruption.

The yellow warning is in place until 12:00 GMT on Tuesday.

The reason it's been warranted a storm name is because there will be some strong winds associated with it in some areas, but not so much for [Somerset], however the rainfall associated with it will become a problem.

We've had conditions of late which have led to very saturated situations down on the Somerset Levels, and they're just one area where we're really at this tipping point where any more appreciable rain falling on top of those conditions is going to tip the balance more in the way of flooding.

All of us will see quite appreciable amounts of rain, but the amber warning is there because that particular area has already seen a mopping up of quite a lot of rainfall and will continue to do so potentially for quite a few more days.

A couple of inches of rain could be seen in some areas, which on top of the conditions we've already had is going to make some nasty conditions on the road and likely some flooding problems.

The EA says it does not believe this period of rain will result in anything as serious as has been seen in previous years as it has greatly improved pumping and drainage capacity, and made the county and communities "much more resilient".

"We're absolutely not in a place where we're thinking that we're going to have a repeat of 2013/14, but it is absolutely right that we put in place the measures that we know are necessary in case this rain continues," said Withers.

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