Dawlish work delayed by two weeks

Network Rail will lay more concrete foundations in Dawlish today after additional damage to the sea wall caused by Friday' nights storm could delay the track’s restoration by up to two weeks.

The track, initially damaged by storms at the beginning of February, was originally expected to be completed by mid-march.

However this Friday saw the temporary flood defences, made of shipping containers filled with concrete, overwhelmed by the rising water.

Network rail has since strengthened the defences and has said they anticipate a new assessement on the timescales by the end of this week.

After the sea wall was first damaged, Network Rail said it would take a minimum of six weeks to repair.

The Met Office has issued a yellow "be aware" warning for rain in south-west England today.

The Met Office’s Chief Forecaster said: “A frontal system is giving another spell of wet and rather windy weather across southwest England today. Further rainfall totals of 10 to 15 mm are likely in places, with as much as 20-25 mm possible over high ground in the west of the area, particularly Dartmoor.”

The weather is however set to improve over the rest of the week with no severe weather warnings currently forecasted for the rest of the week.

Elsewhere, about 1,000 homes across Devon and Cornwall are without power.