Gloucestershire flooding: latest road closures and weather

Freezing temperatures are expected to cause treacherous conditions from around 10pm tonight.

Gritters will be out around Gloucestershire tonight as temperatures drop to -4 overnight and icy conditions cause problems until around 10am.

Forecasters are also predicting that the cold will stay with us for the rest of the week.

Gloucestershire Highways are out gritting all main roads tonight before the cold sets in and again at 4am ahead of rush hour.

With the current wet conditions, there's no guarantee the gritting will prevent ice from forming and with the focus on main routes there will be many minor routes that are not treated and have standing water which could freeze.

 Teams remain on standby overnight to respond to flooding incidents and they will also be available to react to any problems the freezing weather causes.

Jason Humm, Area Highways Manager, said: "There are still many key routes shut because of the flooding which is already causing disruption on the roads.

"With the freezing temperatures we're expecting overnight, the roads tomorrow are likely to be icy in places and people need to be extra careful driving around.

"We will be going out twice with the gritters overnight and spot salting during rush hour and we'll be able to make further runs if needed, to prevent as much ice forming as possible.

"However, with the amount of standing water on the roads, in reality we are going to see patches of ice forming and people need to be vigilant and drive to the road conditions."

Gloucestershire Police are also advising motorists to take extra care.

Inspector Jason Keates, Traffic Management and Road Safety Inspector for the county, said: "With the possibility of low temperatures and icy roads, motorists are urged to be extra careful and follow simple tips to safeguard themselves and other road users.

"The highways authorities will take appropriate measures to keep roads treated and we will attend and assist people who get into serious difficulties, but it is important that we all do our bit to look after ourselves and our own safety."

4pm

ROADS UPDATE: 6.30pm: Spittlegate lane, Toadsmoor road, Downtown rd and A438 tewkesbury (morrisons) now passable with care

Many minor rural routes in low lying areas and close to swollen water courses will be closed or passable only with extreme care and there are a number of residential roads that have local flooding issues.

The list covers only roads critical to wider access across the county.

Roads closed on key network:

A417 Maismore

B4080 Bredon Road

B4213 Hawbridge

Re-opened, passable with care:

A438 Ashchurch Road, Tewksbury

Spittlegate Lane, Cirencester

Downton Road, Kings Stanley

Toadsmoor Road, Chalford

Anticipated longer-term closures due to land slips:

Old London Road

Drybrook cuttings

Meanwhile Tewkesbury Police tweeted a picture of a road sign apprently put up by Highways staff poking fun at drivers who ignore signs to not drive down flooded routes with the words "Told you so".

The latest information from the Environment Agency is that it is likely to take several days for all of the water to drain away.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service launched rescue boats and its hovercraft from the Red Lion car park at Wainlodes this afternoon. A spokesman said crews would be checking on people in their homes and providing reassurance.

Flood victims near Tewkesbury have spoken of their distress after several feet of water wrecked their premises.

Sixteen touring caravans were inundated at The Willows site at Lower Lode, Forthampton.

A spokesman said: "It is very bad. It's damage to people's property, rather than to the caravan park itself.

"Eight times this year we've had to clear our site of caravans but unfortunately this time we were unable to.

"We've got 16 touring caravans in four or five feet of water. The static ones are perfectly safe on flotation devices."

He said the business had been unable to get the touring caravans to dry land on this occasion because nearby roads had been flooded.

Describing the situation as "a total nightmare", he said it was particularly tough for the owners of the flooded caravans.

"There are a lot of people who are very upset about losing their prized possessions. It's a situation we never thought we would be in," he said.

He declined to go into how much the damage would cost and how it would be paid for but added that nobody had been at risk at the site.

People were asked to leave the caravans long before the site flooded, he stressed.

Meanwhile, worshippers are having to wait to assess the damage caused by floodwater having engulfed St Michael and All Angels' Church at Tirley.

Its vicar, Rev John Longuet-Higgins, said: "Nobody has been in it yet as there is 7ft of water in front of it.

"We will wait for the levels to drop and then we will go and have a look."

Anxious Alney Island residents have their fingers crossed that the River Severn's waters will stop just short of flooding their homes.

The Environment Agency has set up three pumps to take water out of the river and away from Alney Terrace and Westend Terrace.

Lawrence Whayman, who lives in Alney Terrace, said: "The pumps appear to be working. It's not raining at the moment, which is good, but the water is flowing down the river quite fast and although it hasn't gone up, it doesn't appear to be going down.

"We are just holding."

Over at Sandhurst Lane, residents have installed a rope to hold on to underneath the A40 northern bypass bridge. Water there is rushing in a north to south direction at around six to eight miles per hour.

Retired city coal man John Orpin ventured into the waters but turned back because he feared he would be taken off his feet by the strength of the current.

He was trying to reach his 20-acre plot to feed his horses.

"The horses will be OK because they have enough hay for now," he said. "But I would have liked to have checked up on them and given them some treats."

Latest Gloucestershire weather forecast

Gloucestershire County Council closed schools website

Enironment Agency flood warnings

Gallery fo aerial pictures of flodding in Gloucestershire