Heavy rain sparks flood alerts

Flood alerts are in force in ten areas following heavy rain over the last few days.

Rob Hutchinson, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said the weather in the second half of the week was likely to be very changeable.

"There are no signs of any prolonged spell of settled weather just yet," he said.

"North and west areas of the country are likely to see more showers over the next few days, and there will be one or two in the south as well.

"In previous Augusts - last year excepted - we have got used to quite nice weather at this time of the month, but it's not looking that way this year."

The Environment Agency has issued warnings for four rivers in Wales, three in south-west England, two in the Thames region and one in the north-east.

On Monday, about 5,000 people in north Wales were advised to boil tap water before drinking or cooking with it after a treatment plant was shut down following heavy rain over the weekend.

Dwr Cymru Welsh Water said it had to shut its Penybont water treatment works for around 24 hours on Saturday after river water quality deteriorated due to the bad weather.

Belfast recorded the heaviest downpour, with 36mm falling in 24 hours, and a total of eight people were rescued from flood waters in Northern Ireland.

In Scotland, a clear-up operation was under way today after homes in Fife were flooded.

Forecasters reported 31mm of rain falling at RAF Leuchars through the night, compared with 13mm in Edinburgh and the Borders.

Eastern England also came in for a soaking, with 29mm falling at Wattisham in Suffolk, 25mm at Waddington in Lincolnshire and 18mm in Weybourne, on the Norfolk coast.

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