Schools were forced to close and residents were stuck at home as a yellow weather warning brought heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of Herefordshire.

Primary schools in Longtown, Michaelchurch Escley, Peterchurch and Fairfield High School said they were closed after floodwaters blocked roads.

Firefighters were called to Peterchurch Primary School, Peterchurch, to pump water out of the school building.

While Clifford Primary School principal Paula Shuman said staff were unable to attend and lunch meals were not being delivered.

The yellow weather warning was published by the Met Office on Tuesday and lasts until 9:00 p.m. BST on Wednesday.

The owner of the Temple Bar Inn in Hereford, Gino Fulgoni, said he was ensuring his staff could return home after a river near the business burst its banks.

“They tried to walk and (the water) was up to their waists,” he said.

“We saw the river burst its banks around half past nine and it was just a trickle, but within 15 minutes it was coming strong and it grew from there.”

The Met Office has warned that some places could see 50 to 80 mm (2 to 3 inches) of rain in six hours.

Rachel Evans, from Ewyas Harold, near the border with Wales, said pipes in the area could not cope with the amount of overflowing water from the Dulas Brook which was quickly filling the area.

“It happened so suddenly, as is usually the case in the village, the sewers don’t seem to be able to work and the stream that runs through the village has overflowed,” she added.