There has been extremely heavy traffic around the Watford ring road this morning.

Hertfordshire Highways warned the town is "very busy" now, with traffic being especially bad around the ring road.

The traffic problems have been caused by temporary traffic signals currently in place where the ring road meets Clarendon Road.

NEW: Roadworks affecting Watford ring road set to be cleared TODAY 

Hertfordshire County Council has told the Observer that work is being carried out by Cadent Gas.

A spokesperson for the council, which would have granted a licence for the work, says its network management team has been in contact with Cadent Gas this morning and told them workers need to either "change the way they are managing the traffic or remove their works by the end of the day".

According to traffic data management website One Network, Cadent's multi-way traffic lights are scheduled to be in place until Friday September 17.

The delays this morning were so bad, it had caused standstill traffic in Stephenson Way all the way back to the M1 roundabout at junction 5.

Watford Observer:

Drivers had taken to social media to say it is taking them considerable time to travel extremely short distances.

There was also the usual disruption in other areas including West Watford and the north of the town.

The roads are likely to have been busier anyway this morning due to the weather.

There is a yellow weather warning for rain today, with the Met Office warning that there could be disruption.

The weather forecaster said: “An area of rain is expected to move northeastwards across much of England on Tuesday, with thunder in a few places. 15-25 mm of rain is likely quite widely with up to 40 mm in a few places, leading to some flooding and disruption.

"However, there is a small chance that this rain will especially intense in a few places with 50-70 mm possible, and more significant disruption where this occurs."