Wet weather disruption

Heavy rain on Friday means more than 40 flood alerts in the Anglia region and several events have been called off.

Latest ITV News reports

Weather forces cancellation of Indian Mela

Bad weather has forced organisers to cancel the annual Indian Summer Mela at Christchurch Park, Ipswich.

The park had been set to host the 10th annual event this afternoon, but organisers Ipswich Arts Festival, announced on Twitter that heavy rain and flooding had forced the cancellation.

The organisers hope to reschedule the event later this year. Also in Suffolk, this afternoon's Mildenhall Speedway meeting has also fallen victim to the weather.

The heavy rain has already disrupted the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and caused the cancellation of events in Peterborough and Wellingborough.

Peterborough Arts Festival finale weekend cancelled

The wet weather has forced the cancellation of the finale weekend of the Peterborough Arts Festival although a scaled-down street performance will still take place.

The Festival Finale weekend at Peterborough’s Central Park was cancelled due to concerns over site safety.

Festival organisers have announced that a small scale programme of street theatre will take place on Sunday in the city centre. This will include a number of performers who were already scheduled to perform.

"We are incredibly disappointed to have had to cancel our Festival Finale weekend. The current conditions in the park, particularly in the backstage area, meant that access in and out of certain areas was impossible, and the predicted weather forecast indicated worsening conditions for Sunday. We hope that people will join us to enjoy at least part of the Festival – we are likely to be dodging the showers, but we are determined to try and put on at least some performances whatever the weather"

– Greer Roberts, Arts Services Manager for Vivacity

The performances will take place between 12noon and 4pm in Bridge Street, subject to weather conditions, and are free of charge.

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Wellingborough carnival cancelled due to wet weather

Wellingborough Council hasannounced that this weekend’s carnival and party in the park have beencancelled because of heavy rain.

The carnival parade, due to start at 1pm on Saturday afternoon at Broad Green, as well as the afternoon activities at Croyland Park and the live music event on Sunday, also at Croyland Park, have all been cancelled.

“Unfortunately we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel the party weekend because of the weather. Croyland Park, the venue for both events, is waterlogged and we had a couple of lorries stuck in the mud there earlier today as we tried to set up. With more heavy rain forecast for the weekend, it would be unsafe to go ahead with the events.”

– Wellingborough Council

A decision on whether or not the party weekend will be rescheduled for later in the year will be made early next week.

A fortnight's rain in 12 hours

The Anglia region has seen as much as a fortnight's worth of rain in just 12 hours.

Holbeach in south Lincolnshire had 25 mm (1 inch) of rain up to 10am on Friday morning. Usually the whole month of July has 45 mm in an average year.

Rainfall totals in the Anglia region in the 12 hours to 10am on Friday 6 July

  • Holbeach, Lincs - 25 mm
  • Norwich - 18 mm
  • Andrewsfield Essex - 15 mm
  • Marham, Norfolk - 12 mm
  • Sawtry, Cambs - 11 mm
  • Santon Downham, Suffolk - 10 mm
  • Bedford - 9 mm
  • Northampton - 9 mm

Click here for the Anglia weather forecast

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Weather delays for Silverstone spectators

by Donovan Blake

Fans heading to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone are being urged to be patient as organisers battle to get racegoers parked up near the circuit.

A spokesman at Silverstone said: '"The weather conditions are far from ideal but we have contingency plans in place and are trying to deal with the situation as quickly as we can.

"There will be delays at car parks and at camp sites, but we want to get people parked up safely, and we're asking everyone to be patient, allow more time for their journeys, so we can make it a great weekend."

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