River Severn flood

On the weekend of October 31, 1998, many towns and villages along the River Severn were badly flooded. There had been a lot of rainfall over three days. Forty flood warnings had been issued to areas along the river Severn. Ten of these were red alerts. This meant that people should be ready to evacuate their homes.

The centre of Shrewsbury was completely flooded. Shortly after, Bewdley in Worcestershire was flooded. There was damage to property, roads and agricultural land in Hereford and Whitchurch.

Boats were used by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to take food to villages cut off by the floods. The floods were the worst to hit the area for 100 years.