I have been out today assisting with flooding problems in Witton Gilbert, Brasside and Pity Me. if anyone has any problems, they can call the council on 01913706000 or contact me if that doesn’t work. Managed to get council officers out (despite the county wide problems), to help with problems in the centre of Witton Gilbert and down in Brasside again, in both cases there are various things which are still needing to be done by the council which I continue to chase up on.

The A167 from Plawsworth to Pity Me remains closed southbound, Potterhouse lane is still dangerous and there is some flooding on the Fram to Sacriston road though not as bad as earlier. Across the County a huge number of roads are under water:

Update at 5pm from Council:

Roads closed A19 County Durham – A19 closed in both directions between the A1018 junction in Sunderland and the A183 junction in Penshaw, because of flooding. Police directing traffic. A688 Bishop Auckland (in vicinity of football ground). A690 Willington to Crook A688 Park Head A68 Witton Le Wear A6072 Tindale Cross Bishop Auckland A181 Sherburn House A167 Plawsworth to Pity Me A690 Brandon-Brancepeth A690 Rainton Gate-Carrville A1086 coast road at Crimdon C95 Whitworth Lane Page Bank B6278 Coundon Gate to Coundon B6298 Crook to Billy Row C60 Shadforth B1281 Castle Eden to Blackhall C14 West Lane South Hetton Lanchester Front Street Unc Windleston Lane Unc 20.13 Wades Lane Littletown Unc 12.10 Peth Bank, Lanchester Roads affected by flooding Harbour Walk Seaham A694 Hamsterley Mill Unc Lanchester Front Street A691 Kaysburn to Lanchester Unc Wallknook Lane Langley Park A692 Dipton C11 Middle Road Craghead C5 Grange Villa to Pelton Lane Ends C12 Holmhill Lane Plawsworth A167 Rushyford to Newton Aycliffe A167 Ferryhill A167 Rushyford A167 B6444 to A1M A167 Wades Junction A68 Witton By-Pass A68 West Buttsfield A689 Rushyford to Bradbury A689 Harperley to Wolsingham A688N Watling Road Bishop Auckland A6072 South Church Road Bishop Auckland A689 Eastgate A177 Shincliffe C30 Bedburn C95 Oakenshaw A6072 Tindale to Shildon A67 Barnard Castle B6286 Hunwick Village B6286 Hunwick to Sunnybrow Willington B6286 Hunwick to Toronto B1278 Fishburn to Trimdon Grange B6299 Willington to Stanley Crook C66 Trimdon to Trimdon Colliery C38 Bradbury B6296 Wolsingham to Tow Law A167 Woodham Lodge C35 Middridge to Rushyford C34 Eldon Bishop Auckland C23 Butterwick Road C21 Rookhope Road Unc 34.10 North Bitchburn B1283 Sherburn to Haswell B1280 Deaf Hill B1198 Shincliffe Lane A690 Brandon to Brancepeth Unc Stephenson Road Peterlee A1086 Blackhall B1281 Castle Eden to Blackhall Dalton-Le-Dale C18 Ushaw Moor-New Brancepeth C154 New Brancepeth C17 Aldin Grange Bearpark In addition, as before standing water is affecting many other roads throughout the county, which may only be passable with care. Train services have also been disrupted, with no trains between Hartlepool and Seaham and delays of up to 90 minutes between Durham and York until further notice.

The amber weather warning is still in force for heavy rain for Durham and Darlington.  A Flood Warning has also been issued for the River Wear at Durham Riverside, with flooding expected for properties along Durham Riverside including Houghall, Elvet Bridge, and High Street.

An additional Flood Alert has been received for the River Skerne, with flooding possible for the Carr areas including  Mainsforth, Bradbury and Morden.

A potential landslip has also been identified at Seaham.

Bronze command was instigated earlier in the day and Silver command is now in place.

The council has deployed emergency action teams, gully tankers, highway inspectors, street scene teams and sand bags throughout the day to deal with local issues.  We have received over 1,000 telephone calls so far into our call centres and have drawn in extra staff to extend our call handling through to 10.00pm, with additional staff also assisting with our ‘out of hours’ service which will kick-in from 10.00pm.

As before, for highways issues, including surface water flooding on the roads, blocked drains in the highway etc, people should call the Highways Action Line on 0191 370 6000.

For sandbag requests where properties are at risk of flooding, people should also call 03000 261000.

For emergencies, where properties have been flooded and lives are at risk, people should call the emergency services on 999.

Hopefully, the weather will improve overnight and the risk of flooding will subside tomorrow.  We will of course keep you up to date if any more significant incidents occur.