Month's rain in a night brings widespread floods

Heavy rain and fierce winds battered much of England and Wales today, combining with melting snow to bring widespread flooding.

Almost 200 schools closed, fire brigades were swamped with emergency calls and travel plans were thrown into chaos as flights and trains were cancelled and roads shut.

Some areas recorded close to their monthly average rainfall for February in just 24 hours.

The downpours came as Britain thawed from last week's snowfall - the heaviest in 18 years.

Also, this morning, the Environment Agency closed London's Thames Barrier which was expected to remain shut until late afternoon to protect the capital from a rising tide.

At its peak, the agency issued more than 100 flood warnings and almost 200 flood watches with rain and melting snow bringing trouble to the UK's roads and transport network.

Up to 3,000 homes in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire were left without electricity after a band of snow stretched from south Wales into the Midlands.

Winds of up to 60mph buffeted coastal areas and one severe flood warning was issued for the Rivers Chelmer and Cam at Chelmsford in Essex.

Heavy snow in Northamptonshire closed more than 70 schools in the county with all school transport cancelled.

Fifty-two Gloucestershire schools followed - many in the Forest of Dean - closing because of roads covered in ice and sludge.

In south east Wales more than 70 schools also shut their doors because of snow and ice making access hazardous.

The worst affected were Blaenau Gwent, where all but four schools were shut, and Caerphilly county borough.

A number of schools in Torfaen and Rhondda Cynon Taf were also closed for the day.

Travellers were also badly hit.

Commuters from London to Manchester and Birmingham were affected as Virgin Trains were forced to cancel some services.

Southern trains reported delays on services between Lewes and Eastbourne in East Sussex due to flooding on the line at Glynde.

And overnight, the weather closed Bristol International Airport with eight outbound flights and several inbound flights cancelled or diverted to other airports.

Passengers flying from East Midlands to Paris saw their journey cancelled.

Several flights were disrupted at Luton airport this morning, with five cancelled, two delayed, and another rescheduled to depart from Stansted.

And it was a busy night and start to the day for the regions' firefighters.

Fire crews in West Sussex, one of the worst affected areas, received around 160 calls.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it had 75 flood-related calls.

Sussex Police had received 96 flood-related calls since yesterday afternoon.

Both River Severn crossings were closed into and out of Wales because of ice falling from the bridges.

Twelve people were evacuated from their homes in Steeple Bumpstead in Haverhill, Essex, because of fears the buildings were dangerous.

And 10 motorists in Somerset were rescued by firefighters after their cars were stuck in floodwater.

Emergency services in Kent received 28 reports of fallen trees, and roads were closed and blocked across Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

But by late morning the worst was over, officials said.

"Things are starting to be downgraded," an Environment Agency spokesman said.

"Things look like they are easing."

A Local Government Association spokesman said the flooding was of no comparison with the destruction wrought by 2007's floods.

"We have no reports of major or serious flooding like 2007," he said.

"The councils are out and about and if there are any problems they will be sandbagging.

"We have heard of no problems of people being evacuated from their homes on a significant scale."

Forecaster Gareth Harvey, of Meteogroup, the Press Association's weather centre, said the worst was over.

He said: "The horrible weather of the last 24 hours is just disappearing.

"The legacy of the North Sea coastal showers are pulling away into the continent and sitting across the low countries."

He added: "It should be getting drier for the rest of the week apart from a few showers.

"But it will remain very cold with temperatures below average."