People across the South West urged by Environment Agency to take flood warnings seriously

The Environment Agency has urged people in the West Country to take flood warnings seriously, with many in place across the region.

In Somerset, river levels remain high and a number of moors are flooded. Road closures are in place, including between Burrowbridge and East Lyng on the A361.

Whilst the impact on the county is nowhere near as serious as in 2014, when over 600 properties were flooded, experts have said it's vital that residents sign up for flood alerts and warnings and ensure they respect them.

Ian Withers, from the Environment Agency, said: "If the rain ultimately exceeds the capacity of the system to take it we will see flooding.

"I think it's really important that everybody in vulnerable areas takes notice of the flood warnings.

"A flood warning means flooding is expected and it's really, really important that people heed that and take action."

Flooding in North East Somerset Credit: ITV News

Since 2014 a considerable amount of work has taken place on the Somerset Levels and Moors to improve flood defences.

Roads have been raised, rivers dredged and villages such as Moorland, which was badly affected nine years ago, have remained free from flooding.

Kevin Good moved to the village in November 2022 and said despite Moorland's history of flooding, he was able to get insurance for his home.

He said: "[It was] no problem at all - in fact cheaper than where we were and the people we bought the house from they've actually moved into Taunton and they couldn't get house insurance because of flood, which is crazy."

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Lisa Webster is co-owner of The King Alfred pub in Burrowbridge and says the business has seen a decline in trade because of the closure of the A361.

She says people there remain calm and confident, and said: "The river's doing what it's supposed to do.

"It's taking the water away. I think it's all working as it should and it's all good."

The good news is that rain is set to ease in the coming days meaning pumping stations can move water off the moors into the rivers.

But the ground is so wet and there is so much water - flood systems and defences look like they’re going to be in for a busy time for the foreseeable future.