Rising flood waters have left eight trains stranded, as severe weather brings havoc across southern England.

South West Trains, which operates six of the affected services, is attempting to co-ordinate public transport to enable passengers to get home for Christmas.

Railtrack said severe flooding on the line between Sway and Bournemouth was continuing to rise.

Five of the trains were heading for Bournemouth, with three bound for London, when the track was closed at 2000 GMT.

The disruption follows heavy rains and high tides, which have hit large parts of southern England. Thousands of families have been warned they may have to move out of their homes.

The Environment Agency has issued a red flood warning for Sussex and amber alerts for Hampshire and Kent after a night of storms wreaked havoc across Britain.

Three rivers in south Wales have also been placed on red alert.

Ray Kemp, spokesman for the Environment Agency in the south, said Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne, was likely to be hardest hit by the predicted flooding.

"From the agency viewpoint the conditions there are likely to be extremely serious," he said."We are talking about the possibility of waves five metres high. The way the storm is going there is the possibility of a five metre wave hitting those properties head-on.

"A one-metre wave weighs about a ton. If people are inside those premises they will not die from drowning, they will die from being hit by a wave," said Mr Kemp.

Across the south, emergency services and local authorities are dealing with localised flooding caused by torrential rain and swollen rivers, as well as numerous felled trees.

Areas of the New Forest, Romsey and Chandler's Ford in Hampshire have been particulary affected, said police. A red alert was also issued earlier in the day for the Isle of Wight.

Mr Kemp said densely-populated Shoreham in West Sussex was also a high-risk area.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said they had suggested to about 1,000 people that they may want to leave the area owing to the high tide.

But the advice is not being heeded by everyone. Charmian Allcock, spokeswoman for Wealden District Council, said so far only a few people had chosen to evacuate their homes.

"It is single figures at the moment but I think there may be more later," she said.

In Devon an 85-year-old man died after being trapped in his flooded bungalow and a security guard was fighting for his life following a freak weather accident amid Christmas Eve rain storms.

A crewman died from injuries he received when a Belgian cargo ship was hit by heavy seas eight miles south of the Isle of Scilly.

Three other crew from the vessel were airlifted by RAF Sea King rescue helicopter to Treliske Hospital, Truro, suffering from broken bones.

Brixham Coastguard spokesman Andy Huber said: "The weather in this area overnight has been very severe, with lashing rain and winds gusting up to 55-60 knots."

Security guard Philip Read, 44, was critically ill in hospital after being injured when flooring from a temporary stage for millennium celebrations was blown on to him as high winds swept across Scotland on Thursday night.

Flooding and rain are Given the anticipated conditions, bookmakers have "virtually written off" the chance of a white Christmas.

William Hill said it was quoting odds of 50-1 for snow to fall at any time during the 24 hours of 25 December in London or Cardiff and 10-1 for Glasgow.