Water levels on the River Wye at Ross rose dramatically during the week and below are some photographs I took on Thursday morning, 11th January when they were at their highest so far during the 2006 / 2007 season. Levels had dropped slightly by Friday morning and remained constant throughout the day. There was no need for concern locally. Water levels have risen far higher than this on many an occasion in the past and the situation made more for scenic views than serious problems. Wye Street remained dry and the Rope Walk was only partially flooded.

I was woken by a phone call from the BBC on Friday morning and with the sleep still in my eyes, went down to the riverbank at Wilton to describe the scene on Howard Bentham's Breakfast Show. Unusually, I did manage to get a recording of that part of the show, which I found on the BBC's 'Listen Again' page, so I heard myself for the first time.

One thing I would like to make clear here is that flooding in Ross-on-Wye Town Centre, such as that which occurred in December 2000 and August 2006 is not caused by levels on the River Wye. In December 2000, the flooding in town was caused by the Rudhall Brook overflowing and, last August the flood in town was caused by extremely heavy rain and a poor drainage system, which is currently unable to cope with heavy downpours such as that which occurred at the time. The flooding in Alton Street and Waterside, which occurred earlier in the year was caused by water running down to street level from incorrectly furrowed potato fields, during a period of heavy rain.

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