After a weekend of heavy downpours, the Midlands has been warned to brace itself over Easter for - snow.

With flooding hitting parts of the region yesterday, fore-casters said they had not ruled out the possibility of snow during the Easter weekend.

A spokesman for MeteoGroup UK yesterday said: "From Monday to as far as Wednesday, it looks like it will be dry with a bit of sunshine. But it will be a bit colder than it has been with temperatures between 7C and 9C (45F-58F).

"On Wednesday during the night, it will be colder with frost. By Friday, it will be quite a bit colder and we can't really rule out snow for the Easter weekend."

Yesterday, four people in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham were rescued by fire crews after two cars became stuck in floodwater at a ford in Icknield Street.

Three people in a Peugeot got stuck at 2am and had to be rescued by firefighters and the fire service's water support unit boat. Eight hours later, an elderly man was rescued from his car just metres away from the first incident.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The water level was up to the windscreen of the car."

In Shropshire yesterday, 70 sheep were rescued from a flooded field. Firefighters from Minsterley and Shrewsbury were joined by the Shrewsbury Boat and Incident Commander and the Wellington Rescue Tender. Together they rescued 35 ewes and 35 lambs from a field in Lea Cross, near Pontesbury. ..SUPL: