West battered by heavy rainfall

Traffic on the A40 in Gloucestershire was badly hit, pic by Steve Moul

Parts of the West of England were battered by heavy rain on Friday and into the weekend.

More than 2,000 people spent the night in emergency centres and hundreds of others were left stranded by flooding in Gloucestershire.

The fire and rescue service said it was working at "full stretch" and only answering "risk-to-life calls".

In Wiltshire, Swindon was worst hit by torrential downpours, with the fire service rescuing more than 50 people.

Vehicles were floating under bridges east of the town, the police reported.

Wiltshire Fire & Rescue service said it had dealt with an unprecedented number of calls to severe flooding incidents in the town, with many people taking refuge in the Oasis leisure centre.

Fire crews from RAF Lyneham provided assistance in dealing with flooding incidents close to the airbase.

The rain brought travel chaos to the west country, with rail passengers travelling to and from Bristol being warned to expect delays because of the rain.

First Great Western said that landslips and severe flooding had washed away tracks and embankments.

M5 motorway

Bristol International Airport said it was operating as normal but asked customers to allow extra time when travelling to the airport.

On the roads, the M5 in Gloucestershire was worse affected, with motorists abandoning cars on the hard shoulder. Police closed the motorway late on Friday, although traffic was moving again on Saturday.

The emergency services have been at full stretch - both Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Services reported their highest ever level of emergency calls.

People in Gloucestershire are being asked to call only if there is a life-threatening situation.

Roads were also flooded in Wiltshire, pic by Andy Cubin

The worst affected flood areas are across Gloucester, Cheltenham and the North Cotswolds and the service has asked for help from neighbouring fire brigades.

The Military Search & Rescue at RAF Kinloss in Morayshire is on standby to help police, as are two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters from the Royal Marines base in Chivenor, north Devon.

In Ashchurch, 200 motorists were stranded at a pub and about 500 people at a Little Chef cafe.

A wedding party of 40 people became trapped by floodwater and had to be rescued from Badgeworth Church near Staverton and 35 people were put up at the Fire Service College at Moreton-in Marsh, including nine residents from a home for the elderly.

More than 500 people were housed at a leisure centre in Gloucester.