Torrential rain rips up roads and floods island properties

Videos were circulating of water bubbling up through a drain cover in Church Square and spouting impressively outside Muse Cafe along Glategny Esplanade.

Meanwhile the road surface in the upper section of Pleinmont Hill, in Torteval, was ripped up in the downpour and the road had to be closed as a result.

The cause was what Guernsey Met Office called ‘a very active cold front’ crossing the islands.

Rain started falling just before midnight and was steady through the early hours of Saturday, with some 8.9mm recorded up to 7am.

But the spectacle was yet to come.

Between 7.13 and 7.42 the rainfall intensity became what the Met described as ‘violent’, and 22.6mm – more than a third of the rainfall so far in the month – fell over the hour.

Further rain into the morning put the 24-hour total at 36mm before the front cleared to the east.

It made for the wettest day since 1 August 2023.

Traffic and Highway Services said that the water pressure on many of the island’s drainage systems was too much to cope with and a number of drain covers were lifted. Many roads in the south of the island still had debris on them later in the day.

Teams from Guernsey Water, States Works and the Traffic department were busy across the morning replacing covers that had been reported.

Sean Wilson from The Carpet Doctor had three call-outs during the day to help people with flooding. At one job he removed more than 300 litres of water from the premises.

‘To be honest I was up early on Saturday morning, I heard the rain but I didn’t even think about it. I hadn’t seen the videos circulating on Facebook and I was just out making a delivery when I got the first call. I didn’t even have any of my gear in the van, so I had to go back to get it.’

Mr Wilson said that he was often called out as a first response following internal flooding within a home or business premises, but rarely as a result of weather.

Seafront restaurants Sorrento and Balthazar were among the businesses hit by a combination of rain and high tides.

Sorrento business partner Salvatore Cacace said that the sheer amount of rain had led to drainage problems around the area. While no water had got into the restaurant, he said it had accumulated around its fire exit and beer cellar.

'It was a bit of a struggle to drain it all away as all the drains were blocked, but we got rid of it eventually.'

Balthazar manager Anna Andrade was off shift when the heavy rain hit, but her boss messaged her to say that the restaurant interior had been flooded with three to six inches of rain.

'Luckily it was spotted early so it was cleared up in about 10 minutes, but it wasn't ideal,' she said.