Heavy rain at the weekend has caused the water in the Geul river in Limburg to rise but a repeat of last summer’s flooding is not on the cards, local broadcaster 1Limburg reports.

The emergency services were on high alert on Sunday when most of the rain fell but as the night progressed water levels fell  and only a handful of gardens, cellars and roads may still be affected, a spokesman for the safety region said.

Valkenburg was among the most affected towns in Limburg in July last year but mayor Daan Prevoo said there was no cause for panic. ‘It looks as if we are dealing with a wintry amount of water, normal for the time of year. It’s nothing like the amount of water of last summer,’ he said.

No rain of any significance has been forecast for Limburg for the rest of the week but the water authorities are keeping an eye on the Geul river, particularly at Epen and Wijlre, where a storage place for barrels and crates belonging to Brand brewery was flooded.

An evaluation of last year’s flood, which caused some €1.8bn of damage, showed that althougth there was a plan in place to take measures in case of high water in the Meuse river, no such plan existed for the Geul.