WORCESTERSHIRE could see more flooding this winter, but it is still too early to tell how great the risk of more disruption is.

Last winter was the wettest on record, with the average rainfall at more than 21 inches - eight more than usual for the time of year - and in its forecast for the next three months the Met Office said the outlook "suggests an increased risk of milder and wetter than average conditions".

Although concerns have been raised that this may result in a repeat of the devastating flooding which hit Worcestershire at the start of this year, Ian Michaelwaite of Pershore-based Netweather said it was very difficult to tell how high the risk was.

"There are going to be some winter storms," he said. "It's inevitable.

"There will certainly be some localised flooding but I can't say if that will be on a wider scale.

"What caused the big issues last year was the very cold conditions in North America and Canada.

"It is very cold over there at the moment but it's starting to warm up so we might not see the same thing."

Mr Michaelwaite added, although the Met Office had predicted a 25 per cent chance of this winter being amount the wettest on record, it also said there was a 15 per cent chance of it being among the driest.

"It's almost like putting money on a horse race," he said.

"Very preliminary forecasts do indicate we should expect some Atlantic storms, but that's not rocket science."

This year's flooding was the worst Worcestershire had seen since 2007. Schools were closed and special buses were arranged to take people between the city centre and St John's. At one point the army had to be called in to help relief efforts.

Although the Environment Agency (EA) issued a flood warning for Bow Brook in Pinvin on Saturday, November 15, after heavy rain caused levels to rise significantly, this was later removed. As the Worcester News went to press there were no flood warnings in placed for Worcestershire.

A spokesman from the EA said: "We have carried out a desk top study in consultation with partners including the Association of Draining Authorities, Internal Drainage Boards and local authorities, which identifies 1,700 potential locations where dredging could possibly improve river flows.

"We are carrying out a further review of some of these sites to better understand the potential flood risk and environmental benefits and we will report these to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs later this year or early next."

The forecast for next few days shows mainly dry, but cloudy conditions, with the possibility of only a small amount of rain on Friday evening.