FLASH floods brought mayhem to the region last night as the weekend heatwave broke in spectacular fashion.

Torrential rain resulted in villages being cut off, several people suffering injuries and even major roads becoming impassable.

In Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, cars were damaged by hailstones the size of marbles as freak weather swept across the region.

Among the worst-hit areas was the North York Moors where last night several villages were cut off between Helmsley and the A19 road, which at one point was blocked near Thirsk.

North Yorkshire Police and the county fire and rescue service worked with the air sea rescue service to reach affected villages in the Helmsley and Bilsdale areas.

The Coastguard said the helicopter was being used on the North York Moors and in places including Selby and Northallerton to airlift people to hospital after they were rescued from stranded cars.

The BBC's Bilsdale transmitter was flooded, cutting off television for thousands of homes across the region.

Another of the badly-hit areas was the village of Felixkirk, near Thirsk, where a number of homes were under several inches of water.

Some families moved items, including furniture, upstairs as a precautions as the waters rose and some farmers moved livestock from flooded barns.

Roads and properties across County Durham were also hit with Chester-le-Street one of the worst affected.

Durham Police reported standing water on a number of roads, including Front Street where several shops and GW Horner's pub were flooded.

Six inches of water flooded the pub cellar and the main bar was under water. A clean-up was under way last night.

Portobello Road in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, was among those closed after severe flooding made it impossible to pass.

In Newton Aycliffe, cars were struggling to get through waters which rose to two feet deep in areas including the town centre.

During a flooding incident at a house in Oakfields, pet rabbits had to be rescued by firefighters.

And on the Cobblers Hall estate, in Woodham, Newton Aycliffe, massive hailstones slammed into vehicles.

Resident Richard Day said: "The hailstones were the size of marbles. It was absolutely phenomenal. Cars in our street were damaged and I counted 76 dents in one side of our caravan and about the same on its roof."

Other areas to suffer included Ferryhill, in south Durham, and a stream at Landswood Terrace, Winlaton, near Gateshead, burst its banks and created puddles from 400 metre to a mile long.

There were also incidents of flash flooding in Washington and South Shields.

Drivers were criticised for ignoring the dangers. A spokesman for Durham Police said: "The sudden impact and volume of water has created a hazard of standing water but some drivers were foolish and decided to drive through the water and ended up being stranded."

The storms followed a weekend of summer fun as temperatures soared to their highest of the year so far. However, forecasters predicted a cooler start to this week.

The perils of the great outdoors were tragically highlighted when two drowned while swimming.

In Sunbury, Middlesex, two 16-year-old boys were trying to cross the Thames yesterday (sun) when one got into difficulty and later died in hospital.

And on Saturday, a 35-year-old man died drowned while cooling off in a popular boating lake in Milton Keynes.

Yesterday was second day of Caribbean-style temperatures and humidity with even Miami - at 32C (89.6F) - not as warm as Britain.

Today, most of England and Wales is expected to feel fresher but still pleasant at 23C (73.4F) to 26C (78.8F) while the south east may reach 29C (84.2F).

Later in the week is expected to be mostly dry and warm, although cooler than this weekend, with temperatures increasing again towards Thursday.

However northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are expecting unsettled weather with the risk of rain.

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