PERSISTENT heavy rain over the Christmas break brought localised flooding around Wellington as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning.

But the good news was that the weather was expected to start to dry up by this afternoon, although showers were again forecast for this evening.

Surface water on the M5 motorway also caused problems for traffic with motorists advised to stick with a 50 mph speed limit.

The Environment Agency issued a warning that rivers and streams were at risk of breaching and causing minor flooding right across the area.

It said it was likely run-off from rainfall or blocked drains would flood low lying land and roads.

In Wellington, waterways around The Basins rose dramatically within a short time and photographs and video were circulated on social media.