Residents flee homes as more floods hit country

SEVERE weather has continued to hit Britain causing major flooding and forcing hundreds of people out of their homes.

In Hampshire families were offered shelter after heavy rain caused 60 buildings to flood while in West Yorkshire large areas of land in the Aire Valley are also under water.

There were more than 40 weather-related incidents on the roads in Sussex, especially in the west of the county where surface water and driving rain caused long delays and several accidents and vehicle breakdowns.

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Only west Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland escaped yesterday's downpours.

A Hampshire fire service spokeswoman said in one incident six people including a newborn baby had to be evacuated by boat.

She said: "Amongst those persons rescued was a one-week-old baby girl called Poppy who was evacuated and taken to a waiting ambulance crew for a check-up."

In Hartlepool, three cars were badly damaged when a 60ft tree crashed to the ground after a night of strong winds and heavy rain.

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A blue Renault Clio, a red Saab and a black Nissan Micra were all hit and the street where they were parked was blocked by branches.

In South Yorkshire gritting operations were expected to get underway last night as Barnsley Council predicted a cold snap.

Snow domes at the council's highways depots in Penistone and Smithies have been topped up with record levels of rock salt in readiness for the annual battle against the winter.

The huge storage areas have been filled with a 9,250 tonnes of rock salt – 2,000 tonnes more than stockpiled for last winter's severe freeze.