boxing day 2012: Christmas flood misery: Woman clings to tree for 50 minutes as waters rise and rescuers battle to save family of three from drowning in submerged car

Woman rescued by RNLI and fire crews after she was swept from her car

One of a number of rescues as residents get trapped in fast flowing floods

Environment Agency issue 186 flood warnings and one severe flood warning

Rail routes under pressure as Christmas commuters try to get home

First Great Western advises passengers not to use trains in the South West

Almost half of the expected monthly rainfall fell in one day in parts of UK

By Becky Evans

PUBLISHED: 04:15 EST, 23 December 2012 | UPDATED: 05:19 EST, 23 December 2012

A woman clung to a branch for 50 minutes after she was swept away from her car by rising waters.

A police helicopter found her hanging on to the tree on the banks of the swollen River Taw, in Devon in the early hours of today after widespread flooding in the area.

Fire crews used inflatables to drag her to safety in Umberleigh, near Barnstaple, and she was then treated for exposure to the water, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

The submerged car was swept away in Saffron Walden in Essex after heavy rain

A residents is helped by rescuers in Braunton, north Deveon, which has been effectively cut off after the River Caen burst its banks

Cornwall was one of the hardest hit areas yesterday and today a severe flood warning - meaning risk to life - is still in place in Helston

It was one of a number of incidents in the south west as the region was battered by persistent heavy rain.

A family of three, including one child, were also stuck in the fast flowing floodwater in Umberleigh today.

RNLI and fire crews from the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service pulled the family free from their car.

Police and paramedics also attended the incident shortly before 1am today near Umberleigh Railway Station along with an RNLI boat team and a search and rescue helicopter.

A spokesman for the fire service said: 'The occupants in the car were difficult to reach although one male person and one child were rescued by fire service personnel using dry suits.

'The adult female was out of reach and was eventually rescued by the RNLI boat team.'

Two hours later a crew from Okehampton were called to Sanders Lane, in Bishops Tawton, near Barnstaple where two elderly women were trapped in their home.

The property was 50 metres from the road and surrounded by three foot of floodwater.

The fire crew and a RNLI in-shore boat rescued the two women who were taken to safety before two further people and two dogs were also rescued from a nearby cottage.

186 flood warnings and one severe flood warning - meaning risk to life - are in place today from the Environment Agency

In Worcester, the River Severn burst its banks near the cathedral

Some parts of the UK received more than a third of its expected monthly rainfall in one day and the Environment Agency has put out 186 flood warnings.

One severe flood warning - meaning risk to life - has also been issued for the River Cober in Helston in Cornwall.

Dozens of residents in the South West face Christmas with floodwater in their homes, and communities across the country are on alert as hundreds of flood warnings remain in place.

In the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales a woman was rescued from her car by passers-by after it was swept into a river in Llancarfan, the BBC said.

The woman was driving through the village when her black Mini ended up in the swollen waterway and began floating backwards with her trapped inside.

Two men smashed the car window using a ladder and pulled her to safety just moments before her car was washed under the bridge and filled with water.

Sam Smith, one of the woman's rescuers, told the BBC, he crawled across the ladder, got the woman out of the car and then with a friend led the woman to safety.

He said: 'Once we had got her across we pulled the ladder out of the car, and I suppose about a minute later off it went under the bridge. There is no question, the poor lady would have been drowned, absolutely no question.'

The Environment Agency (EA) last night said there was a heightened flood risk across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West and East Sussex, North Yorkshire, south Wales, Ceredigion and Gwynedd.

Liz Spear, chair of the local council, said a river was running through the centre of Braunton, pictured

Hundreds of thousands of Christmas commuters will also face further misery today as their chances of getting home for the festive holiday are hampered by the effects of flooding.

Rail routes across the country will be under increasing pressure as people who were unable to travel yesterday will add to already heaving services as they attempt to reschedule their journeys.

Dozens of routes have been affected by heavy rain in recent days, and flooding has been so bad in the South West that First Great Western is advising passengers with non-essential journeys not to travel on trains or replacement buses in the area at all, because of flooding and poor road conditions.

Some 346 flood alerts are also in place across the country.

Elsewhere in south Wales, 70mm of rain fell between 6am yesterday and this morning - more than one third of the 170mm monthly average rainfall.

The town of Braunton in north Devon was effectively cut off yesterday, with homes and shops under water, after the River Caen burst its banks.

Though the River Caen is now falling and rain is clearing, an Environment Agency spokesman said the river yesterday breached a section of Braunton's flood defences.

The £1.2 million defence scheme was completed in June when the agency said the works meant flooding would be reduced from a one in 20 chance of occurring in any one year to one in 100.

Liz Spear, chairman of Braunton Parish Council, said a river had run through the centre of the town.

'It's disappointing really because the Environment Agency have just spent over £1 million on new flood defence schemes - two flood defence schemes - this year but they've been totally overwhelmed,' she said.

Business owners in Caen Street were left surveying the damage this morning.

Emma Beeston, who runs a restaurant in Braunton, said that despite having flood boards and sand bags she had two inches of water throughout her business.

'Ourselves and every other business and lots of homes were under a lot of water for quite a long time,' she told the BBC.

'The timing couldn't be any worse for any of us here, really. The start of the Christmas holiday is always a busy time, it is a two-week period.

'There are shops in this village that are not going to get opened for the entire Christmas period. 'Their stock has all been lost. Towards the middle of Caen Street there was 3ft of water, much of that went into the shops and you can't turn that round overnight.

'Luckily for us we managed to, once the water had receded, get the water out and give it a first mop clean. Unfortunately at 7pm last night the same thing happened again, it re-flooded.'