AFTER what seems like an eternity of relentless rainfall throughout the Forest the Met Office are forecasting yet more rain and experts from the environment Agency have issued flood warnings all over the region.

Joanna Hunt from the Environment Agency told the Post that flood black spots Lymington, Milford on Sea and Brockenhurst all have flood watches in operation. Residents of Lymington will be anxious not to see a repeat of last years Christmas floods but with weeks of unremitting downpours the agency are carefully monitoring the situation:

"The Forest area is absolutely saturated," said Joanna. "Ground water levels are now so high that there is nowhere for the water to go." she added. This means that water will either flow into drainage systems causing potential problems or will flow into rivers and streams where water levels are already at their maximum.

But even more concerning is the situation at Christchurch, Ringwood and Fordingbridge which have all been affected by flooding caused when the River Avon burst its banks last Friday/Saturday. Around one hundred properties have been subject to flooding and the A338 Ringwood to Salisbury Road has been closed after being blocked by water. Amongst the areas affected are Southampton Road, Bridge Street and High Street in Fordingbridge.

Principal Engineer with the New Forest District council, Carl Michalski echoed the Agency's concerns : "The flooding has affected the whole of the New Forest catchment area with the Avon worse affected than it was in 1995 when it last flooded," he said.

He added that both experts from the council and the Environment Agency were having difficulty predicting day to day how the streams and rivers will react to the increasing rainfall.

Anyone wishing to check out the flood risk in their area can tap into the recently launched Environment Agency floodplain maps on it's website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk. Users can enter the name of a town or a postcodes and instantly where the flood risks are.