Lower rainfall than expected leads to reduced flood risk (From News Shopper)

Lower rainfall than expected leads to reduced flood risk, says Environment Agency

2:01pm Tuesday 1st May 2012 in Weather News By Jim Palmer

LOWER than expected rainfall overnight has led to a fall in river levels, the Environment Agency said.

Although 44 flood alerts remain active in the south east, there are no higher-rated flood warnings and significant levels or rainfall are not expected later this week.

The Environment Agency said it will continue to monitor river levels closely and expects to remove more flood alerts today.

It said officers are continuing to help prevent flooding and said it is still possible in low-lying isolated areas.

Strong stream warnings are currently in force along the whole of the River Thames and boaters are advised against navigating under these conditions because it is dangerous.

For more information on strong stream warnings, go to riverconditions.environment-agency.gov.uk.

South East flood risk manager Peter Quarmby said: “Fortunately we have not seen the predicted rainfall totals overnight and we should see most river levels dropping over the rest of the week.

"The River Thames will continue to rise over the next few days as it responds more slowly to heavy rainfall, but we don’t believe this will cause any major issues.”

The Environment Agency said traffic conditions may still be hazardous and advised people to listen to traffic reports for advice.