‘Half a month’s of torrential rain fell in the city in just a few hours’
ROADS AND HOSPITAL BUILDING
HEAVY DOWNPOUR FLOODED
UP to half a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours led to Leicester being hit with flash floods, the Met Office has revealed.
The torrential rain which fell across Leicestershire on Friday afternoon was between 15mm and 30mm of rain according to the Met Office, with some of the heaviest rain falling in Leicester itself.
The deluge caused a number of major problems on Friday afternoon for the emergency services, including road closures such as Fosse Road, rescuing several drivers who tried to navigate through the flood water, and parts of Leicester Royal Infirmary left under water.
De Montfort University’s Kimberlin Library also had to close because of a leaking roof caused by the significant rainfall.
The Met Office linked the heavy rainfall to Storm Evert, which has been battering the country over the last few days with strong winds,
heavy rain, and thunderstorms, resulting in a weather warning being announced for the region on Friday morning.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “There was a rainfall of about 15 to 30ml across all of Leicestershire on Friday, starting from midnight.
“However, looking at a 12-hour
period from 9am to 9pm, I can see that most of the rain fell in that time, caused by Storm Evert.
“Leicestershire’s average rainfall in July is 60ml, so the county saw between a quarter to a half of a month’s rainfall in a very short period of time, which would have resulted in the significant flooding.”
AND LED TO CLOSURE OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY