UK weather: Almost 100 flood warnings in place as UK braces for more rain

It comes after freak storm damaged homes and tore trees from roots in Surrey

Almost 100 flood warnings are in place as the UK is set to be battered by rain and wind as travellers head home for Christmas.

The Environment Agency has issued 88 flood warnings stretching from Middlesbrough down to the south coast.

There are also a further 227 flooding alerts in place, meaning there is a risk of flash flooding and standing water.

About 90 properties have been flooded, including 60 in the southeast and about 30 in Devon and Cornwall.

It comes after a tornado damaged homes and tore trees from their roots as it tore through Surrey during a freak storm on Saturday.

The Environment Agency warned the flood threat will continue for the next few days in southern and central England as more rain is likely to come on Monday and Tuesday.

Overnight, emergency services in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, had to rescue a mother and her three young sons who became stuck in their car in floodwater in Edgecott.

Thames Valley Police urged drivers not to move or ignore “road closed” signs placed on the routes most at risk of flooding.

On Friday night, one officer had to strip down to his boxer shorts to check on a car stuck in Kingsey.

Kent was also badly affected, with the River Medway on the verge of bursting its banks between Teston and West Farleigh near Maidstone.

A submerged car in Yalding, Kent, after the area flooded following heavy rain (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Elsewhere, the residents of Little Venice Caravan Park in Yalding, Kent, had to be rescued by motorboat.

The Environment Agency advised people to stay away from swollen rivers and to avoid driving through standing water as just 30cm of flowing flood water is enough to flood a car.

So far this autumn, rainfall records have been broken for South Yorkshire, Nottingham and Lincolnshire – and across the country it has been the fifth wettest autumn since records began.

Although Sunday will be a wet and miserable day for most people, there is some respite on the horizon.

Forecaster Steven Keates said: “Yesterday’s rain is slowly clearing in eastern England – it’s fairly light and patchy now, there’s not really too much falling but it’s totted up the rainfall and the flooding issues across the south overnight.

“The good news is that the next couple of days offer a bit of a respite.

“There’s a bit of rain in the forecast mostly in the form of showers but the rainfall amounts in areas affected by flooding in recent days will be relatively small and won’t greatly exacerbate the problem.”

Temperatures are expected to range from between 4C in northern Scotland to 10C in the south of England.

Additional reporting by Press Association