Flood chaos for thousands

Large areas of the South-East are in chaos today after widespread flooding left towns and villages inundated and brought travel misery to thousands.

Rivers swollen by days of torrential rain burst their banks across Essex, Kent and Sussex, with dozens of homes swamped and thousands more warned they are at severe risk.

With more heavy rain forecast for tonight, many people could find themselves spending the New Year baling out.

Emergency workers are at full stretch, with firefighters rescuing families from flooded homes and council workers filling sandbags along miles of dangerously high rivers.

As millions prepare for New Year celebrations, motorists were warned to avoid dangerous roads, with police calling driving conditions "treacherous".

A series of villages and towns have already been hit, including Tilbury, Canvey Island and Billericay in Essex, Barcombe and Rye in Sussex and Yalding, Canterbury, Penshurst, Ashford and Tonbridge in Kent.

Commuters and New Year travellers face chaos after rail lines in Surrey were closed by a landslide as saturated embankments at Redhill collapsed, bringing huge delays to services to the south coast from Victoria.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers will be affected by the delays, which will last at least until the end of the week while Network Rail engineers work to restore lines.

All of Kent and East Sussex and swathes of Essex have been given an official flood warning by the Environment Agency as part of more than 100 in force across England and Wales. The agency is warning that there could be more large-scale inundation of properties and businesses in the coming days.

A spokesman said: "We've got some very swollen rivers in the region and there could be widespread flooding. We're advising people across the South-East to be aware of flood warnings and the procedures for ensuring their property is as safe as possible.

"Motorists must also avoid driving along roads which are flooded." In Kent, one of Britain's most flood-prone villages faces "imminent" danger. Yalding, near Tonbridge, sits on the banks of three rivers, the Beult, Medway and Teise. Its High Street is already under surface water, with businesses sandbagging in preparation for worse to come.

The Environment Agency spokesman said: "The rivers have already reached the threshold of property-flooding, before the peak of flow has gone through. It's still rising by 100 millimetres per hour. It's right at the point where it's going into homes."

Police are on standby to evacuate residents in homes along the River Darent between Westerham and Chipstead, while in Canterbury firefighters pumped out overflowing drains after a flash flood left roads under a foot of water.

Low- level flooding has already hit Tonbridge, Penshurst and Ashford. A police spokeswoman warned roads were "treacherous" and the Bourne, Darent and Medway are all threatening to burst their banks at a series of danger points.

The fire brigade is under such pressure that it has urged home owners only to call 999 if their lives are at risk.

In Sussex homeowners in Barcombe have put up sandbags, while flash floods in Rye narrowly missed houses.

In Essex, homes in Christchurch Street, Tilbury, were flooded, forcing residents to be evacuated, while in Billericay a family had to be rescued by firefighters when their car became trapped by threefeet deep water.

The floods were caused by yet more torrential rain in the early hours which already saturated ground could not absorb.

Forecasters have warned there will be no let-up to the misery, with today's dry weather being followed by more rain from midnight tonight. A Met Office spokesman said: "We are now expecting the rain to last into the weekend and see no respite."