WITH heavy rain sweeping across parts of the country, Worcestershire got off relatively lightly despite rainfall punctuating much of the weekend.

Much of the problems in the county were caused by strong winds and surface water on the roads creating tricky driving conditions, while the Environment Agency shut the New Street flood gate in Upton as water levels began to rise.

Dave Throup, the Environment Agency's manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said there had been 5mm-10mm rainfall on the lowlands and up to 20mm in Wye and Severn headwaters this morning (Sunday).

He added the river level would continue to rise throughout the week but didn't expect any "significant problems" to occur.

The Met Office predicted some blustery and wintry showers overnight, with widespread risk of icy roads as temperatures fall to 1C before further heavy, and at times thundery, showers push in from the west, bringing more wintry conditions over higher ground throughout Monday.

No flood warnings have been put in place for the river Severn and river Teme in Worcestershire but the Environment Agency had place the river Avon on flood alert at Evesham and Bredon, meaning flooding was possible.

Low lying areas of farmland and caravan parks between Evesham and Tewkesbury along with the B4080 at Eckington could be affected by flooding.

At 11.30am today (Sunday), the level at the Evesham gauge was 1.92 metres and steady, with a peak level of between 2.2 and 2.5 metres expected to occur tomorrow (Monday) evening.

The level at the Bredon gauge was 2.2 metres and steady, with a peak level of between 2.5 and three metres expected to be reached later in the week depending on the forecasted rainfall.

On Saturday afternoon there were a number of reports of trees being down across roads following a spell of heavy rain, thunder and high winds.

Among those affected were the Marlbank Road, Welland, after a tree fell outside the Marlbank Inn, the A449 about a mile outside Malvern, the northbound carriageway on the A38 at Severn Stoke and Stockton Road, Abberley, near Worcester, when the carriageway was partially blocked by the Elms Hotel.

Large quantities of surface water and run-off from adjacent fields was experienced in Lower Howsell Road, Malvern.

The Met Office had issued an amber warning of severe weather for the south west today (Sunday) and the Environment Agency issued more than 100 flood alerts and 10 more serious flood warnings in the region, which mean flooding is expected and immediate action is required, with Somerset experiencing the worst of the conditions.