WITH the Met Office forecasting improving conditions but with more rain to come Gloucestershire County Council remains prepared.

The county escaped relatively unscathed from the predicted strong winds but with large amounts of rain overnight this has led to problems with surface water and some incidents of property flooding this morning.

Emergency response highway crews consisting of 80 road workers and specialist tree surgeons have been on standby around the clock dealing with incidents as reported.

By 10am this morning highway teams had responded to a large number of incidents across the county, including a small number of fallen trees and surface flooding incidents caused by fallen leaves blocking gullies.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue crews have dealt with 35 weather related incidents, including 9 reports of property flooding in the Forest of Dean, Gloucester and Cheltenham.

Fire crews have inspected properties, helped divert water and have pumped out four properties – with two pumping operations currently still ongoing.

Richard Waters from Gloucestershire Highways said “It is a changing picture across the county as we continue to respond to incidents as they are reported to us.

“The police have assisted us by closing some roads at certain times to allow emergency clearance work to take place, but virtually all roads are now open and passable with care.”

“You can continue to report any issues on the road via gloucestershire.gov.uk/transport or call 08000 514 514.”

Jon Hall, Chief Fire Officer for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It has been a busy night for fire and rescue crews across the county.

"We still have two pumping operations ongoing. Should more rain fall fire crews are fully prepared to respond to help keep the county safe.”

Vernon Smith, cabinet member for roads and flood, said: “Highway crews have been working hard throughout the night to try and minimise the impact of the storm as much as possible.

"After the ongoing emergency response, officers will switch to inspecting known problem areas.

“Fortunately the county has escaped the strong forecast winds, but after a huge amount of rain in a short period of time drainage systems have become overloaded quickly, resulting in surface water flooding.”

Will Windsor Clive, cabinet member for communities said. “We have seen some very wet weather overnight and our fire crews have done a great job responding to emergencies to keep communities safe.”

The Met Office has confirmed that the risk from very strong winds has now passed for Gloucestershire, but with rain still forecast highway and fire crews remain prepared to deal with any weather related emergencies as they arise.