THE region was bracing itself for more floods last night amid predictions of days of heavy rain.

Seven people had to airlifted to safety in a dramatic rescue at the weekend when their cars were stranded by waters rising in the Yorkshire Dales.

And with the experts forecasting more water to come, sandbagging has begun in some parts of the region.

Last night, there were flood warnings in place across North Yorkshire and officials were monitoring river levels in the North-East every 15 minutes.

The situation has been exacerbated by melting snow in the uplands, which helped contribute to flash floods in the Yorkshire Dales.

On Saturday night, the A684 near Aysgarth was swamped with water from the surrounding fields, leaving an elderly couple from Huddersfield stranded in their car in three feet of water.

A police officer tried to reach them but was forced back by the rising water. A farmer brought his tractor to the scene but was also unable to reach the couple.

Within minutes, two more cars had also been trapped on the same stretch of road, and with seven people stranded Inspector Nick Turnbull in the police control room called in the RAF.

The rescue co-ordination centre at Kinloss in Scotland despatched a crew from RAF Leconfield, in East Yorkshire, to the Dales as all seven motorists crammed into one car for warmth.

A winchman was lowered to the packed car and one by one the stranded people crawled through an open window and were airlifted to safety.

The Huddersfield couple were flown to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton as a precaution, while the remaining five were accommodated locally.

Insp Turnbull said: "There had been very heavy rain and that, coupled with melting snow, had brought a lot of water running down from the fields.

"The road was swamped and the car was stuck in the middle of it, which must have been alarming."

Forecasters were last night predicting a drier spell later today followed by heavy rain at times until Wednesday.

"The ground won't have a chance to get dry and for the next 72 hours it's going to be a quite difficult situation, flooding wise," said forecaster Tony Conlan at the PA Weather Centre.

The problem has been made much worse because of heavy snowfall in parts of Teesdale, Weardale and North Yorkshire last week.

Officials said the weekend's torrential rain had led to a rapid melt that had swollen rivers to breaking point.

"In the next three days, flooding is the main concern," said Mr Conlan. "A band of rain will move very slowly south-eastwards during Tuesday and Wednesday.

"There will be a good inch of rain in most places but up to two to three inches on higher grounds.

"Ahead of the snow last week we had temperatures of 5C and when the snow arrived it dropped to zero.

"There is the potential for temperatures to reach 16C this week. It's the sort of temperature you are more likely to see in early to mid-May."

Over the weekend, flooding was reported in Bishop Auckland, Northallerton, Pickering and York.

The Environment Agency is monitoring the situation around the clock and has issued a series of local flood warnings in North Yorkshire.

They include the Ouse in York and Naburn, the River Seven at Sinnington, and the Ure at Langthorpe.

Stamford Bridge, Buttercrambe and Acaster Selby were also put on the alert.