After the snow the deluge - flooding hits homes in the South

River levels in the capital and the Home Counties are continuing to rise as torrential rain and fierce winds battered the region overnight.

The Thames Barrier in Woolwich has been raised as a precautionary measure and is expected to remain up for the rest of the day.

The South has been worst hit with flood warnings in London and along the Thames Valley increasing to 13.

The Environment Agency issued 89 warnings and 181 flood watches across the country altogether. The worst flooding has been seen at the Rivers Chelmer and Can in Chelmsford.

Downpours caused dozens of families to be evacuated from their homes while others were trapped in their cars.

A 40-year-old woman was killed after her car skidded on the M25 last night. The female driver, who has not been named, was on the Surrey-bound section of the motorway when her car slid across the carriageway and hit the giant fuel truck at 7.15pm.

London, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire recorded close to their monthly average rainfall for February in just 24 hours and there were gusts of up to 60mph in coastal areas.

Essex Fire Service had more than 200 calls for help during the evening and night and 12 homes in Steeple Bumpstead, near Braintree had to be evacuated because of the risk of flooding.

The rain also caused flash flooding in Basildon, Brentwood, Chelmsford and Colchester. Up to 50 properties are also at risk of flooding near the river Roding which flows from Loughton to Barking, passing through Chigwell, Woodford, Redbridge and Ilford.

The swollen River Colne in Hertfordshire caused flooding in Hatfield and Kent Highway Services received about 70 reports of flooding on the roads, and 28 reports of fallen trees.

In Oxfordshire, "exceptionally heavy" rain combined with the thawing of snow, has led to localised flooding.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said they had received 250 emergency calls last night. Some homes in the village of Wallington near Fareham had suffered flooding overnight.

A number of roads in Wiltshire have been closed, while others East Sussex, west Sussex, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, were blocked by heavy flooding.

A band of snow stretching from South Wales to the Midlands left up to 3,000 homes without electricity in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.