THE WORST flooding in west Wiltshire for more than a decade caused chaos and misery as homes were washed out and roads closed.

In the wettest 24-hour period recorded in west Wiltshire for 50 years, more than an inch of rain fell in 12 hours.

Rivers and streams burst their banks from the overnight rain on Sunday night and Monday morning, leaving many places flooded.

Firefighters dealt with 350 calls in a 24-hour period, while emergency workers were operating round the clock to clear the roads and restore power.

Warminster and Mere fire stations received the most calls on Sunday night, while in Colerne fire crews and electricity workers had to deal with cables blown down.

As daylight dawned on Monday, the full extent of the flooding became apparent, and as the day wore on, there were more and more problems.

No trains ran for most of Monday morning as operations began to clear the lines of debris.

Many commuters already knew their trains had been cancelled, but others turned up at stations to be met by signs telling them there would be no transport.

A skeleton service was running later on Monday, but by Tuesday morning the Wales and West services between Bristol, Cardiff and Weymouth were back to normal.

First Great Western was running no trains on the Berkshire and Hampshire line, which includes Westbury, but Paddington to Bristol line trains were operating an emergency service.

A spokesman said: "The frequency is near normal, it's just the timings which are different."

Flooding, which in some places was the worst for 40 years, caused many roads to be closed and frustration for drivers trying to get through.

Rob Conway, from Warminster, made it along the A350 to Yarnbrook, near Trowbridge, when his car broke down.

He said: "They were diverting cars through the layby when the road was flooded near Blue Circle, but that was flooded too.

"When my car broke down I thought I could try walking to work."

But Mr Conway, who works at Cereal Partners, Staverton, only got as far as the railway bridge on the A363 between Yarnbrook and North Bradley when more flooding stopped him.

"I've never seen it this bad," he said. The road was eventually closed after firefighters had to pull some cars out.

Traffic was backed up on the Hawkeridge Road from the Yarnbrook crossroads through to Westbury as drivers battled to find a way through.

With traffic almost at a standstill on the A350 and floods causing some to hesitate, the chaos became horrendous.

Firefighters at Bradford on Avon were caught up in the drama when their engine was swamped by floodwater at Freshford.

They were forced to swim for safety when the river suddenly burst its banks, stranding the fire engine in rising water.

Ambulance crews also battled against the elements, with one crew stranded when the electrics failed on their vehicle after going through floodwater.

In other places which traditionally flood in bad weather, the levels were higher than people could remember.

At Staverton, the River Avon rose six inches in less than half-an-hour, causing the road to be impassable by anything other than lorries and large vehicles.

One woman had to be rescued by a lorry driver when her Peugeot car was almost swept off the causeway.

Drivers waited patiently on Monday morning to drive across the fast-flowing floods.

One lorry driver, Stewart Rawlings from Trowbridge, said: "A bit of rain and a bit of snow and the whole country comes to a halt."

As the day progressed the road became more hazardous and by Monday night it was closed to traffic.