Flood rescues and school closures as storm hits

People have been rescued, homes have been flooded and schools have been closed as Storm Chandra brought more heavy rain to Devon and Cornwall.

A new yellow warning for rain is in place until 23:59 GMT for parts of south-west England following previous yellow and amber warnings for wind and rain.

One "danger to life" Severe Flood Warning was in place earlier for Ottery St Mary, in Devon, where the River Otter reached its highest ever recorded level. This was reduced to a Flood Warning shortly before 16:00.

The latest deluge of rain comes as a massive clear-up continues in the two counties following Storm Ingrid.

Devon and Somerset Fire Service said it was called to 25 vehicles in floodwater on Tuesday morning.

Several people were rescued but there had been no casualties, including a two elderly occupants from their vehicle in floodwater in Tavistock, a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a woman and three dogs were rescued by firefighters after her car became stuck in floodwater in Coulson Park, Lostwithiel, Cornwall.

Roads have been blocked due to flooding and fallen trees.

The A30 was closed near Exeter Airport as it was under water.

The River Otter reached its highest recorded level, according to the Environment Agency's (EA) duty manager for Devon and Cornwall.

Ben Johnstone said it had been very wet overnight and "the main impacts have been felt towards East Devon, the Otter and the River Axe".

The Beacon Community Centre in Exeter appealed for volunteers to help sweep water away after it was flooded.

Chris Cranston, trustee of the centre, said: "Last night with the torrential rain that came down, we're unfortunately at the bottom of a hill on the Beacon Heath and there's a whole load of debris."

He said leaves in front of the building had blocked the drain in the road so "the water was building up on the road".

"Although we've got some flood prevention doors on the building it's just got overwhelmed," he continued.

There have also been dozens of school closures across Devon.

On Tuesday, Devon County Council said 56 schools had been shut or partially closed, including Tipton St John Primary School.

Its future is uncertain as it is in a flood risk area.

The Department for Education has agreed to fund a new building two miles (3km) away in Ottery St Mary, but a petition has called for the school to stay.

Great Western Railway (GWR) urged passengers not to travel unless "critical" due to issues on its services including flooding on the tracks.

Spokesperson James Davis said tickets issued for Tuesday could be used up until Thursday, with limited bus replacement services also set up.

He said passengers could also request a refund if they could not travel.

Davis said flooding had been reported on tracks between Exeter and Taunton, Taunton and Castle Cary and Newquay and Par, while services travelling through Dawlish were reduced due to the damage to the sea wall there.

It partially collapsed and train services were suspended between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth on Saturday during Storm Ingrid which also caused part of Teignmouth's historic pier to wash away.

Paul Gentleman, from GWR, said disruption to some of the routes could last until the end of the week due to the latest Met Office yellow weather warning for more rain on Thursday.

Tuesday's downpours led to Torquay United's National League South game with Farnborough at Plainmoor being postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Storm Chandra has exacerbated the effects of prior heavy rain in the area.

Following a pitch inspection a referee deemed the surface to be unplayable.

A new date for the game will be announced in due course.

The Mill on the Exe pub in Exeter, Devon, also closed due to flooding on Tuesday.

BBC South West senior broadcast meteorologist David Braine said many locations in the region have had their monthly average rainfall for January with some locations more than "double".

About 476mm (18.7in) of rain has fallen in White Barrow on Dartmoor since 1 January - its yearly average total is 2,000mm (78.7in), so a quarter of its annual rainfall has already fallen so far this month.

Plymouth's January average total is 100mm (3.9in), and so far it has had 240mm (9.4in). Bodmin has seen 375mm (14.8in) this month - its monthly average is 155mm (6.1in).

Dartmoor has also been recorded as the second-wettest place in the UK after the Cairngorms of Scotland, he added.

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