Parts of park are left flooded
These were the scenes at Herrington Country Park yesterday after three days of near constant rain – with more likely to come.
Large areas of the popular public area were under deep flood water – with the road to the lower car park closed off to vehicles because the route was totally submerged.
The park’s lake had burst its banks, while other parking areas had become ponds as the ground became waterlogged.
Meanwhile, because of Wednesday’s heavy rain, people in Murton were continuing to see the impact of the weather, with traffic unable to use the B1285 between the village and the junction with Murton Lane at Easington Lane and leading on to Colliery Lane in Hetton.
Bus firm Go North East said its 202 and 265 services were unable to serve stops on that section of road.
It asked passengers to catch their buses either from Easington Lane or the Station Estate in Murton,
The Met Office forecast predicts that the rain is likely to continue until Tuesday – with yellow weather warnings in place for rain and then ice and snow being issued.
The outlook for Saturday to Monday is cloudy and windy Saturday with showery outbreaks of rain and hill snow.
Two yellow weather warning have been issued for snow and ice in Northumberland from noon on Saturday until just before midnight on Monday.
Forecasters predict that snow showers in the far North East of the country will spread southwards throughout the weekend and the early part of next week.
The Met Office has warned that there is a small chance of travel delays on roads and both vehicles and passengers could become stranded.
It says the winter conditions could also cause delays or cancellations to rail and air travel.
Temperatures could drop by around 10 degrees to barely above freezing between today and Monday across large parts of England.
Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said: "We could see a drop of about 10ºC in widely expected daytime temperatures going into the weekend and next week.
"Cold air will come in from the east will bring temperatures down and that doesn't take into account the wind chill.
"So those cold winds may make it feel much colder."