THE Vale has been battered by extreme weather in recent weeks, with severe flooding, heavy snow and gale force winds – and forecasters are predicting there’s more to come.

Following the floods in November which caused major disruption across the area, the new year brought heavy snow which has now thawed leading to a sense of déjà vu as the river Avon once again burst its banks this week.

As the snow melted, river levels rose steadily, reaching a peak of just under three metres in Evesham which led to Workman Gardens being submerged yet again.

Although the levels had gone down yesterday, another peak was expected last night.

Weatherman Paul Michaelwaite, from Netweather in Pershore, said: “The big problem is rain for the rest of the week, particularly Friday. It could be very wet again.

“We are quite concerned.

Into the weekend it’s going to be cold with frost and maybe some ice. But I think we are nearing the end of the really nasty weather.

“It should be milder next week to start with but turning cold again. It really is topsy turvy at the moment.”

A number of roads have been shut due to the floods including Eckington Bridge and Jubilee Bridge in Fladbury, which re-opened yesterday.

Bus services in the area were affected by the closures, with the 382 via Eckington being re-routed.

Flood warnings had been issued on the river Avon in Evesham but were removed at 7.50pm on Tuesday, while a flood alert remained in place for the Avon from Salford Priors to Tewkesbury and on low-lying land near Bidford.

Workman Gardens and Crown Meadow were submerged under flood waters earlier this week which reached the road at Waterside but didnt affect traffic in the same way as the floods in November. Waterside resident and chairman of the Waterside flood defence trust Ronald Briggs said the road had remained open.

“The river reached 2.96 metres on Sunday evening,” he said. “It encroached on the road but didn’t interfere with traffic.