Roads were left under water, police were called out and one popular pub was forced to shut as North Staffordshire was battered by hours of heavy rain. Sandbags were dished out in some of the county's worst-affected areas yesterday.
Scores of roads - namely in the Newcastle area - were under water during the afternoon after the clouds turned dark grey and rain and heavy downpours moved in. North Staffordshire was largely spared the forecasted thunderstorms on a day where the summery weather was dramatically washed away.
It saw Staffordshire County Council's highways teams sent out to 'a number of flooding incidents'. In the Potteries and Penkhull's popular Greyhound Inn had to close early last night.
In a post on the boozer's Facebook page, staff revealed how the cellar had flooded and 'electrics blown'. They wrote yesterday (September 4): "We are now no longer safe to operate for the evening! Apologies to all. We should be open as normal tomorrow (Friday) but will update you all."
They added in the comments section: "We cannot apologise enough, some things are out of our control, we pray that tomorrow (Friday) we can re-open. No-one is more frustrated than myself. Look out for updates as soon as the brewery sends someone to rectify this major issue."
Motorists in Newcastle reported scores of flooded roads including Lower Milehouse Lane, Kingsbridge Avenue, Dartmouth Avenue, Etruria Road, Albemarle Road, and Porthill Bank. On Dimsdale Parade West in Wolstanton and a manhole cover is said to have been 'blown off' with water covering the road and pavement.
Dyno-Rod North Staffordshire says one of the firm's bosses has helped replace them to make it safe as police taped it off. As the afternoon progressed the county council were on scene.
In the Moorlands and there were reports of flood-hit roads around Leek, Endon, and Forsbrook. In Endon and a flood sign remained on the A53 near The Village this morning with standing water near the small bridge over the brook.
Further south in the county and Sandon Road was again forced to shut after being left under water.
Speaking yesterday Peter Mason, the county council's cabinet member for strategic highways, said: "Our highways teams have been responding to a number of flooding incidents across Staffordshire today, following a period of very heavy rainfall in a short space of time. Crews have been deployed to locations including Stafford, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Cannock where they have cleared floodwater, unblocked gullies and provided sandbags where needed. We urge motorists to drive to the conditions of the road and to report any flooding or blocked drains to us on our website."
According to the Met Office and today marks the run of a start of dry conditions - set to last until Wednesday. Temperatures over the weekend will reach around 21C too.
Light rain is expected across Wednesday and Thursday but with sunshine and highs of 16C - that won't feel warmer than 13C.