Seasonal flooding during the autumn and winter months and into early spring has been replaced by the threat of deluges throughout the year as global warming plays havoc with traditional weather patterns.

Britain was hit by the latest round of flooding over the weekend as torrential rain caused problems in Yorkshire as well as the North-East and parts of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

While torrential rains which lashed the country over the weekend have eased off, forecasters are warning of more floods to come – as today's predicted clear skies are likely to be the calm before another storm.

Heavy rains are forecast to sweep northwards across the country from tomorrow, with warnings of downpours and localised flooding in the region on Thursday when there could be as much as 30mm of heavy rain rain.

At least five people were killed in weather-related incidents since Friday.

Among the victims was a 42-year-old Sheffield man who was killed when the Kawasaki motorbike he was riding hit a tree branch on the A66 near Scotch Corner.

Another man in his late 30s from near Selby died when his motorcycle collided with a fire engine near Wilton on the A170 between Scarborough and Pickering.

Other victims were a girl of 17 from London, trapped after a 4x4 vehicle plunged into floodwater in Powys, Wales, and a couple whose car collided with a tree in Plymouth in heavy rain.

An engineer killed after being buried alive by a landslide in Gloucester on Friday was named last night as geologist Alex Wright.

His parents Shelley Wright, a 53-year-old self-employed painter and decorator, and her husband Joseph, 55, an agricultural engineer, said they were shocked.

His devastated mother said: "We don't know how we will be able to go on without him."

The 27-year-old from Cheltenham was surveying a site in Brimscombe Lane, Stroud, in Gloucestershire, when one of the mud walls caved in.

The collapse is thought to have been caused by torrential rainfall weakening the trench walls.

In Morpeth in Northumberland, the clean-up operation was under way yesterday after Saturday's floods put the high street under 2ft of water, with more than 400 people needing to be evacuated, with some residents plucked to safety by RAF helicopter.

Properties were flooded in the Flanshaw area of Wakefield.

In North Yorkshire, towns and villages including Middleham, Sinnington, Colburn and Catterick were also affected after two-and-a-half inches of rain fell during Friday night.

The Environment Agency's regional director for Yorkshire and the North-East, Toby Willison, admitted that contingency plans needed modifying to counter the threat of flooding throughout the whole year.

He said: "It is absolutely clear that climate change is having an effect on weather patterns. If you look back 10 or 12 years ago, there were seasonal floods in the autumn, winter and early spring months.

"But flooding can happen at any point during the year now."

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service dealt with 70 incidents in a 24-hour period over the weekend.