The wet and windy start to week has persisted into Wednesday with more than a month's worth of rain falling in some places across the UK. Britain has been hit with the most extreme September weather for decades, with hundreds evacuated from their homes and fire and rescue teams battling against the floods to help residents of some of the worst-hit areas.


Beautiful but dangerous: flood waters in the fields around Tewkesbury Abbey
Cars sailed down streets after being abandoned by motorists, and a block of flats in Newburn, Newcastle were left with their foundations exposed as the town struggled with another day of heavy rain.

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Mick Murphy, technical director of Newcastle City Council, told the BBC that the Spencer Court flats were "extremely unstable", adding that he had "never seen anything like this in 33 years of civil engineering experience".

It was evacuated close to a bicycle shop which had thousands of pounds worth of cycles stolen while the roads were blocked by water and silt.

"We have increased patrols in Newburn" said Acting Chief Superintendent Dave Byrne, of Newcastle Area Command.

He added: "It is despicable if people are thinking of taking advantage of the bad weather and using it as an opportunity to break in to properties."

There are 57 flood warnings and 100 flood alerts currently in force across the UK, with the North of England worst affected.

Although the worst of the rain has now passed, river levels in some places were still rising as the water comes down through the systems.

The Environment Agency said rivers such as the Ouse, which flows through York, and the Dane, which flows through Crewe, Nantwich and Northwich, had yet to peak this afternoon and posed a real risk of flooding.

Some towns have been "cut in half" by the floods, as bridges were swamped by the swollen river conditions. Tadcaster was split in two by the closure of the bridge which carries the A659 over the River Wharfe as a precaution after firefighters noticed water seeping through the structure.

Shut roads and flooded railways have caused travel chaos, with diversions in place across the affected counties. The A1 near Catterick will remain closed all day, police have said.

However for some, coping with the flooding is just the first obstacle to overcome.

After the floods subside residents and business owners will have to cope with the huge amounts of mud and debris left by the floods. Some of these deposits have already rendered areas unrecognisable.

Resident have had to use ladders to bridge their way across the islands of mud that have been left by the floods.

Councils have called on the government to set up an emergency fund to help pay for millions of pounds of repairs to roads damaged by the persistent rain and flooding in the past few months.

It said funds might have to be diverted from elsewhere to plug the gap, causing cuts to services or planned infrastructure projects that aim to boost growth being put on the back-burner.