Heavy rain causes flooding and cancellation of Easter Monday events across region

Vehicles negotiate flooding on the B1113 at the junction with Low Road at Keswick, over Easter. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Archant)

Fakenham Racecourse said this morning that its race planned for today has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Meanwhile, a free sports activity day at Waterloo Park in Norwich has also been cancelled.

In a post on Facebook, Park Britannia said: 'We've been keeping a weather eye on the weather all weekend and unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow looks particularly wet and rainy.

'We've made a really tough decision to cancel the free sports activities with Simon Charlton and the visit by the gorgeous Miniature Donkeys for Wellbeing. 'We're really sorry to do this but we think it's the right thing to do.'

Vehicles negotiate flooding on the B1113 at the junction with Low Road at Keswick. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2018)

Park Britannia said its cafe would remain open at Waterloo Park despite the weather.

Fakenham Racecourse apologised for having to cancel its race event. It said: 'Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. We are very disappointed, however horse and jockey safety must come first.'

Sheringham Park in north Norfolk said it had closed its waterlogged overflow car park, which could restrict the number of cars accessing the site.

Meanwhile, Great Yarmouth Town FC said today's east coast derby against Gorleston has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Vehicles negotiate flooding on the B1113 at the junction with Low Road at Keswick. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2018)

Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach was also closed as some rides could not be operated safely in the wet conditions.

In a Twitter post the club said: 'Every effort to fork would have been in vain with 9mm of rain forecast up to kick off.'

Pensthorpe Natural Park in Fakenham said it was lowering its admission price due to the weather. People can visit the park for £5 per person.

King's Lynn Town FC said its game against Kettering Town was postponed due to The Walks pitch being waterlogged.

The club said on twitter: 'The Walks pitch is currently heavily waterlogged, Mainly thanks to over 15 millimetres of rain that has fallen in the last 10 hours.'

Diss Town FC's game against Debenham LC FC has also been called off.

The bad weather has even led to the cancellation of events later in the week.

Wednesday's scheduled Premiership Knockout Cup match between King's Lynn and Leicester at the Adrian Flux arena has been postponed. A new date will be announced in due course.

Steph Torrice, tourist information advisor at the Hunstanton Tourist Information Centre, said: 'It is rainy and very quiet here today. It was much busier yesterday but then it was also a bit drier.

'A lot of people came in who were out on walks, looking for maps and information, but today people either already know what they want to do or they have plans. We have sold a lot of tickets for the Sea Life centre as that is mostly indoors.'

At the nearby Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary, things were much busier.

Curator Keiran Copeland said: 'The majority of the centre is indoors while the penguins and otters are outdoors. We are particularly busy today which we expected with this weather.

'The weather doesn't bother the outdoor animals, if the penguins want to get away from the rain they can go in their pens or the pool while the otters spend so much time in the water anyway. They probably enjoy it much more than the visitors.'

Caroline Muncey, volunteer at the tourist information centre in Well-next-the-Sea, said: 'I think it will have had an impact, but how much that has affected the businesses in town I can't say.

'On Saturday morning we were certainly busier than Monday. I think on Saturday people still had great hopes that things might change but today it seems obvious that's not happening. Fingers crossed it will get better this week.'

Millie Batch, of BeWILDerwood adventure park in Hoveton, said: 'It's been pretty miserable weather but at BeWILDerwood the play doesn't stop and the people who know this have kept on coming. We've had a lot of Easter things going on under cover.

'As long as you come prepared with your wellies and your raincoat you won't mind too much.

Ms Batch, who's job title is 'little sparkly of marketing malarkey', added: 'We would have had a few more visitors if it was beautiful spring weather, but people have been saying they've had a fantastic day despite the rain.'

But some attractions - at least those indoors - have seen an upside to the downpour.

Anna Crane, visitor services assistant at Cromer Museum, said: 'There has been less footfall generally, but it hasn't been too bad here because while people haven't been on the beach they've been coming up here to get out of the rain.'

Meanwhile, attractions across south Norfolk remained open for the Easter rush despite the 'very English' weather.

Parts of the footpaths at Banham Zoo were sectioned off due to the wet weather however the attractions were very much open for business.

Areas near the tiger and vulture enclosures were limited however the animals were still visible.

The zoo posted on Facebook: 'Due to the wet weather a couple of the areas within the zoo have been sectioned off due to flooding and skytrek will not be open today.

'We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, put on your wellies, remember your umbrella and we look forward to seeing you.'

Similarly, despite bad flooding along the A1066, Bressingham Steam and Gardens continued with its schedule to open for the season this weekend.

They operated at full steam even though 'the weather is being entirely English, so why not join us for an English day out'.