A flood alert has been issued for the River Roach, Prittle Brook and Eastwood Brook due to the risk that minor flooding is likely over the next few hours to low-lying land, roads prone to flooding and riverside areas.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “River levels are high and are expected to continue to rise in response to the rainfall. It is likely that we may need to issue more warning messages for a wider area, over the next few hours.
“The forecast is for persistent rain this morning and showers into the afternoon, more settled on Friday but with further rainfall on Saturday. Flood water is dangerous. Don’t put yourself or others at risk. We are closely monitoring the situation.”
Watery Lane in Hullbridge is flooded with “deep water” and has been closed at both ends, with a number of vehicles reported to be stuck in the flood water.
Meanwhile, a storm drain is overflowing in Thorpe Hall Avenue in Southend, flooding the road and causing Arriva bus services to be diverted.
Elsewhere there are surface water issues on multiple roads around South East Essex including at the A127 Fairglen Interchange.
How is Prittlewell Brook in Southend monitored for flooding?
The Environment Agency have a monitoring station located in Belfairs Park, on the watercourse. Over time, this equipment has shown that that the usual water level of the brook is between 0.02m and 0.20m.
When the monitoring station indicates that the water level is rising rapidly, the data is transmitted to Environment Agency computer systems which can alert forecasters to issue an alert.
However, the Environment Agency also run a number of computer models to predict when flooding could occur, based on a number of variables.