A man has died as rain-battered Britain continued to be hit by more flooding.
The victim, who has not been named, was trapped in his car as it became wedged
under a bridge in Somerset at 8.50pm last night.
He was pulled from the blue Mitsubishi Shogun and pronounced dead after emergency crews were called to the scene near a ford at Rectory Fields, Chew Stoke.
The death occurred as the Environment Agency said nearly 300 properties had flooded across the UK since Tuesday. It has sent more than 10,000 warnings to people at risk of flooding.
Petra Lowe (43), who lives close to the spot in Rectory Fields said: “Somebody in the village was out with their son and realised the car was stuck, I don’t think that at the time they realised there was anyone in the car, and then they realised there was and they alerted emergency services.
“Due to the bridge, they couldn’t get out of the car. However the car was fixed, they couldn’t actually get out.
“We live just up around the corner and could hear an awful lot of commotion. He was alive when he got out of the car, I think, but by the time he got to hospital he’d died.”
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said the coroner had been informed and a full investigation would be launched.
The death occurred after days of wind and rain caused chaos across swathes of the UK.
Meanwhile, Thames Valley Police were searching for a man in his 90s who they believe fell into a river in Sonning, Berkshire, though officers said the river was not thought to be flooding.
Torrential downpours have so far left thousands of homes without power and more than 100 people evacuated as winds reached more than 140km/h.
The rain also brought disruption for thousands of commuters.
Many train services in the southwest and connections to London Paddington were cancelled or delayed.
The misery continued this morning with service providers reporting more problems.
Virgin Trains had disruptions through Watford Junction, the northwest, north Wales and southwest Scotland; South West Trains reported “major disruption to West of England services caused by severe weather”; and Southeastern reported major disruptions on three lines.
Minor delays were experienced on cross-Channel ferry crossings from Dover in Kent.
The AA said the last few days have been some of its busiest for flood-related call-outs.
By noon yesterday the organisation had attended around 4,600 breakdowns, with up to 900 incidents reported every hour.
Those injured in weather-related incidents included an elderly pedestrian whose head was cut after being struck by a tree, two teenage girls taken to hospital with head and shoulder injuries, and a female driver in her 50s who escaped with minor injuries after her car was crushed by a falling tree trunk.
PA