Flooding around Stafford - in pictures

The rivers Sow and Penk have burst their banks in Stafford, causing flooding around the county town. An Environment Agency flood alert remains in force for the two rivers - one of dozens of flood alerts across England after heavy rain over the last few days. Our reporter Leah has been out in the town today and taken some photos of the flooding. An Environment Agency spokesman said: "River levels are high but steady at the Milford river gauge as a result of persistent heavy rainfall overnight (12/06/2019). Consequently, the risk of flooding remains. Flooding is affecting low-lying land and roads adjacent to the River Sow between Great Bridgeford and Shugborough, the River Penk between Coven and Stafford, the Sandyford Brook, the Rising Brook, the Ridings Brook and the Saredon Brook. Further showery rainfall is forecast over the next 12 hours. We expect river levels to remain high this afternoon, evening (13/06/2019) and overnight into Friday (14/06/2019). "We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are actively checking river levels, the weather forecast and checking defences."