RESIDENTS across the whole of the West Somerset and Wellington areas were put on a flooding alert on Saturday (July 19) as a weather warning was extended at short notice.

The Met Office had issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and heavy rainfall for Devon and Cornwall but said Somerset would not be affected.

Then, the forecast suddenly changed during Saturday with the Met Office extending the affected area to include the whole of Somerset and Dorset.

The Met Office said heavy rain was expected from 6 pm on Saturday with its alert running until 9 pm on Sunday.

The BBC, however, which several years ago stopped using the Met Office in favour of a private forecaster, was only forecasting ‘light rain and thundery showers’.

The yellow warning means people should be prepared for some localised flooding and disruption to bus and train services.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “In some areas 1.2 to two inches is likely to fall in a few hours and there is a small chance that a few locations could see three inches or more.”

They said it was possible there could be power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses and a small chance some communities could be cut off by flooded roads.

Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings, and fast flowing or deep floodwater could cause danger to life.

Spray and flooding on roads would cause difficult driving conditions, and some roads might have to be closed.

The spokesperson said people should check bus and railway timetables and amend their travel plans if necessary, and prepare for power cuts by making sure they had torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack, and other essential items.