WORCESTER remains on flood warning today with forecasters fearing more heavy rain could mean the worst is yet to come .
Flood barriers will stay in place "for the foreseeable future" along Hylton Road and in Upton-upon-Severn in the aftermath of Friday's torrential downpours, in which almost half the average rainfall for January fell in just one day.
The storms brought havoc to county roads over the weekend, as plummeting temperatures transformed standing water into treacherous black ice, causing eight separate accidents in a two-hour period in which one man died.
The Environment Agency said water levels were slowly beginning to fall in the Severn after peaking at almost 5m yesterday afternoon, but warned residents to "keep vigilant" with more heavy rain forecast for the coming days.
Worcester News weatherman Paul Damari said: "It's been such a wet spell and the problem now is that everything is saturated, and the streams and rivers are full. Rain just runs straight from the fields into the streams and we see the sort of flash-flooding that occurred in places on Friday.
"The weather remains very unsettled coming in from the Atlantic, and we can expect it to stay like this over the next seven days. More heavy rain like we had on Friday is a real possibility. That poses a threat of more flooding in the county, so we've got to stay on top of things."
Footpaths were submerged along the Severn on Saturday as water levels rose steadily throughout the day, with parts of Worcestershire County Cricket Club's New Road ground and Worcester's Pitchcroft racecourse both disappearing beneath flood waters once again.
Flash-flooding continued to strike sporadically around the county over the weekend, with Worcester fire crews needing a boat to rescue two men and two dogs who had become stranded in deep water in a 4x4 while trying to cross a ford at Ford Lane, Droitwich, on Saturday morning.
A few hours later firefighters teamed up with the RSPCA to rescue a herd of cows trapped by rising water levels on an embankment on the Lower Ham at Kempsey. The crew and an RSPCA officer manned a dinghy and helped the cattle swim almost three-quarters-of-a-mile to safety.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "The flood barriers will remain in place in Worcester and at Upton-upon-Severn for the foreseeable future.
"More rain is being predicted so we would ask people to be very vigilant over the next few days and keep a close eye on things. The river levels are falling currently but if we do get a significant amount of rain then they will start to rise again."
Click 
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article