Parts of Suffolk see half a month's worth of rain as flood warnings remain
Areas across Suffolk have seen flooding on Thursday after as much as 30mm of rain fell on the county - Credit: Mike Simpson
Parts of western Suffolk have seen more than half a month's worth of rain in 36 hours – and flood warnings remain in place across the region.
The county has seen heavy rainfall since Wednesday evening, with pictures showing extensive flooding in rivers and fields across Suffolk.
The River Lark burst its banks due to the heavy rain - Credit: Charlotte Bond
Among the worst hit areas were in the west of the county, with small streams becoming near rivers while riverbanks burst on the River Stour and the River Lark, among others.
The Strand near Ipswich was partially blocked due to floodwater, while the B1078 in Needham Market was similarly blocked due to rising floodwater.
The worst flooding came in west Suffolk, although areas in the east also saw rivers burst their banks - Credit: Charlotte Bond
Police and fire crews were called to help one motorist stuck in floodwater in Low Road, Monk Soham and a patch of road surface on the A14 westbound at Risby was also damaged by flooding.
Bus services in Coddenham were also diverted as a result of flooding in the village.
Almost a dozen flood alerts and warnings remained in place across Suffolk on Thursday evening - Credit: Charlotte Bond
As of Thursday evening, nine flood alerts remained in place across Suffolk, while two more serious flood warnings were in place for areas surrounding the Stour Brook and Bumpstead Brook near Haverhill. The warnings, put out by the Environment Agency, called for immediate action to be taken in the area.
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Zoë Johnson, meteorologist at East Anglia-based Weatherquest, said rainfall across the region has been higher than expected for this time of year.
Miss Johnson said: "It has been a very wet period and we have seen flooding across the region, with much of Suffolk seeing between 15mm to 25mm of rainfall over 36 hours.
"Other areas, particularly in the west, have seen as much as 30mm – with the average for this time of year being 50mm."
Miss Johnson added the flooding was made worse by soil already being saturated.
She said: "It was a fair amount of rain and it has fallen on already saturated soil, which is why we are seeing more flooding.
"We also saw sleet and snow patches in parts of the region."
Temperatures are expected to drop to as low as -3C overnight, with western parts of the county likely to see freezing fog on Friday – with temperatures there unlikely to rise much higher than 0C.
