Thousands stranded at Gatwick or without power at home after severe flooding hits Britain
THOUSANDS of people are spending Christmas Day away from their homes or without power in the wake of severe storms.
THOUSANDS of people are spending Christmas Day away from their homes or without power in the wake of severe storms.
Fifty thousand homes across the UK are without electricity this morning, and flood warnings are in place across the country.
The Environment Agency has three severe warnings in place in the South East and South West - the highest level of alert, which means there is a danger to life.
Firefighters broke their strike in parts of England because of the storms.
Members of the Fire Brigades Union in Surrey and Kent were recalled to duty under the terms of an agreement between the union, the employers and the Government.
In the early hours, around 90 people were evacuated from their homes on the River Stour near Bournemouth.
People were also evacuated from the Beaulieu Garden Park Home in Christchurch, Dorset.
The Coastguard joined Kent Fire and Rescue Service to rescue people from the Little Venice Caravan and Marina Park in Yalding after rising waters from the River Medway cut them off.
By 8pm the water was chest-deep, the Coastguard said, and a helicopter was brought in as a precaution while the last 21 people were led to safety from rising flood waters and listing caravans.
By last night 150 properties had been flooded in England, mainly in the south and focused in Surrey and Kent.
In Surrey residents were evacuated from their homes in Dorking, Leatherhead and Guildford, while more evacuations occurred in Tonbridge, Kent.
Some 40 properties were evacuated in Godalming because of concerns over the height of the River Wey.
Fifty thousand homes across the UK are without electricity this morning, and flood warnings are in place across the country.
The Environment Agency has three severe warnings in place in the South East and South West - the highest level of alert, which means there is a danger to life.
Firefighters broke their strike in parts of England because of the storms.
Members of the Fire Brigades Union in Surrey and Kent were recalled to duty under the terms of an agreement between the union, the employers and the Government.
In the early hours, around 90 people were evacuated from their homes on the River Stour near Bournemouth.
People were also evacuated from the Beaulieu Garden Park Home in Christchurch, Dorset.
The Coastguard joined Kent Fire and Rescue Service to rescue people from the Little Venice Caravan and Marina Park in Yalding after rising waters from the River Medway cut them off.
By 8pm the water was chest-deep, the Coastguard said, and a helicopter was brought in as a precaution while the last 21 people were led to safety from rising flood waters and listing caravans.
By last night 150 properties had been flooded in England, mainly in the south and focused in Surrey and Kent.
In Surrey residents were evacuated from their homes in Dorking, Leatherhead and Guildford, while more evacuations occurred in Tonbridge, Kent.
Some 40 properties were evacuated in Godalming because of concerns over the height of the River Wey.
Kirk Waite, a forecaster at the Met Office, said today would be "much quieter" weather-wise.
He said: "We do have a few showers around and they could be heavy at times, and some of them might bring more hail, which will give a whiteness to things."
Mr Waite said the storm coming on Friday is not expected to be as severe as we have already had.
He did say there would be quite heavy amounts of rain, which would bring "additional problems" to the places already dealing with floods.
Tragedy has struck in the run-up to Christmas Day, with the bad weather thought to have contributed to a number of deaths.
On December 23, a man's body was pulled from the River Rothay in Ambleside, Cumbria.
The 48-year-old, from the Hest Bank area of Lancaster, was swept away by the fast-moving water after he and his dog were spotted in the river at 2.25pm.
A woman also died in a river in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Another woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a car crash which happened in "difficult weather conditions", West Midlands Ambulance Service said.
The woman died in the crash near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which happened just after 9.30pm on Monday.
A man died in a multiple-vehicle crash near Bodmin in Cornwall on Sunday night.
He said: "We do have a few showers around and they could be heavy at times, and some of them might bring more hail, which will give a whiteness to things."
Mr Waite said the storm coming on Friday is not expected to be as severe as we have already had.
He did say there would be quite heavy amounts of rain, which would bring "additional problems" to the places already dealing with floods.
Tragedy has struck in the run-up to Christmas Day, with the bad weather thought to have contributed to a number of deaths.
On December 23, a man's body was pulled from the River Rothay in Ambleside, Cumbria.
The 48-year-old, from the Hest Bank area of Lancaster, was swept away by the fast-moving water after he and his dog were spotted in the river at 2.25pm.
A woman also died in a river in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Another woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a car crash which happened in "difficult weather conditions", West Midlands Ambulance Service said.
The woman died in the crash near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which happened just after 9.30pm on Monday.
A man died in a multiple-vehicle crash near Bodmin in Cornwall on Sunday night.
Gatwick Airport has also been heavily affected by the wet weather after a flood at one of the busy airport's power stations on Tuesday saw flights cancelled and left passengers stranded.
Low cost airline easyJet was forced to cancel over 80 flights on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest days of the year for the airline, due to the North Terminal power failure.
A spokesman said: "We apologise to all passengers affected and understand how frustrating this is particularly at Christmas
"All affected passengers have been offered a transfer to an alternative flight free of charge.
"A number of easyJet staff have volunteered to work on Christmas Day to operate delayed flights and we secured several hundred hotel rooms at Gatwick to accommodate passengers delayed overnight."
Many passengers were left fuming after their plans to visit family or enjoy a Christmas getaway were wrecked.
Joe Pattinson had been due to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona but has ended up returning home to Wokingham in Surrey.
He told the BBC: "It was absolute confusion.
"We'd been waiting for three hours in the queue. There was no information and we couldn't find anyone to explain what we should be doing.
"Eventually three armed police turned up to try and calm people down.
"Lots of people were getting angry and shouting, they were booing the police and arguing with each other."
Low cost airline easyJet was forced to cancel over 80 flights on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest days of the year for the airline, due to the North Terminal power failure.
A spokesman said: "We apologise to all passengers affected and understand how frustrating this is particularly at Christmas
"All affected passengers have been offered a transfer to an alternative flight free of charge.
"A number of easyJet staff have volunteered to work on Christmas Day to operate delayed flights and we secured several hundred hotel rooms at Gatwick to accommodate passengers delayed overnight."
Many passengers were left fuming after their plans to visit family or enjoy a Christmas getaway were wrecked.
Joe Pattinson had been due to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona but has ended up returning home to Wokingham in Surrey.
He told the BBC: "It was absolute confusion.
"We'd been waiting for three hours in the queue. There was no information and we couldn't find anyone to explain what we should be doing.
"Eventually three armed police turned up to try and calm people down.
"Lots of people were getting angry and shouting, they were booing the police and arguing with each other."