EVENTS lined up for the weekend fell victim to the downpours.

The Dorchester Armed Forces and Veterans Day march and concert on Saturday was called off along with the Big Grove Summer Festival on Portland and the first day of the Dorset Seafood Festival on Weymouth harbourside.

However, defiant organisers of the Seafood Festival braved the floods to stage the event on Sunday.

Organisers of the Big Grove Summer Festival said that many performers, support crew and members of the public had pledged to carry on but that safety was of paramount importance.

Now they hope to hold an indoor concert soon to bolster funds before staging the festival in September and October.

Sarah Whiteside, one of the organisers, said: “It is really sad. It is a fundraising event with lots of people involved. Even on Saturday morning people were saying they were coming and the musicians and other people involved said they would still come.”

Sarah said that it was access to the site that was becoming more and more worrying so they took the decision to postpone the event.

She added: “Our massive thanks go to everyone for their support.”

Sarah said that people have vowed to help out with the fundraising concert as well as the re-scheduled festival in September or October.

Keith Mullen, of the Dorchester Armed Forces and Veterans Day, said the march through town and concert in the borough gardens was cancelled but a meal and presentation of badges in the Town Hall went ahead. “We were rather disappointed but because of the weather we couldn’t do anything else,” he said. “We had people travelling from all over the west coming.”

Floods close village roads

Floods close village roads VILLAGERS were left stranded when roads in and out of Nottington were closed due to floods.

Residents reported up to four feet of water surging down the main route through the village, damaging cars and houses.

Terry Wright said: “It has been devastating. It’s not just the water, it is all the mud and everything that comes with it.

“One man I spoke to said he had sewage coming through his house.”

Nottington Lane was closed on the Harbour Hill and Dorchester Road entrances to the village on Saturday, reopening on Sunday morning after the surge had subsided.

Sally Wills, of Old Nottington Farmhouse, said further damage had been caused by people ignoring the signs.

She said: “Some people might think it’s fun to drive through, but they do not realise it sends a wave of water onto people’s property.

“The water was so deep that the upholstery in some cars has been soaked through.

“I have never known it bad enough to have to close the roads.”

Charlotte Foot said the village was submerged under a foot of water.

month’s precipitation falls in 24 hours

DORSET Echo weatherman Bob Poots recorded a month’s worth of rain between 9am on Saturday and 9am on Sunday.

Measuring in Wyke Regis, Mr Poots said 36.6mm of rain had fallen in 24 hours, while the average for the whole month of July was 37.6mm.

The first seven days of July 2012 experienced 114.5mm – more than three times what could normally be expected for the whole month. The record for the highest monthly rainfall in July was set in 1955, with 183mm.

Dorchester weatherman John Oliver said double the average rainfall fell in Dorchester in 36 hours.

He said: “In the 36 hours to 6am on Sunday [we got] an astonishing 110.8mm (4.36 ins) of rain – more than double the average for the whole of July. This was the highest total recorded in such a short period since 1955 and followed five weeks of exceptionally high rainfall. An incredible 313.2mm (12.33 ins) of rain has fallen since June 1 compared to the average for the period of just 67mm (2.64 ins).”

• THE Met Office predicts a respite in the wet weather today as skies are expected to remain dry but more rain is forecast later in the week.

Experts predict Tuesday and Wednesday nights will remain dry, with rain falling in the day time and temperatures remaining mild. Thursday is expected to experience rain all day, with gusts of up to 26mph.

Temperatures should remain mild.