WELLINGTON and surrounding areas have been hit by the heaviest rainfall over a short period in 20 years.

WWN correspondent Simon Ratsey, who has been keeping weather figures for 56 years, said 4.2 inches of rain fell during 40 hours up to 9am yesterday (Tuesday).

“We have had a comparatively dry autumn and so the ground has been able to cope,” he said. “But it would have been a far different story if the ground had been wet.”

Flooded roads made conditions hazardous for motorists with the usual blackspots being affected.

Two fire appliances from Wellington attended a call to a male, described in his ‘50s/60s’ trapped in his van in rising flood water in Nynehead Road on Monday evening.

Crews arrived on the scene and began donning drysuits to wade to the vehicle. They made contact with the man and asked an ambulance and the special rescue team from Bridgwater to attend. The man was struggling to breathe and then became unconscious. Crews administered oxygen therapy to the casualty. The special rescue team carried a stretcher across the water to load the casualty onto. Crews had to work quickly as the flood water was rising. The casualty was rescued from the vehicle and taken to Musgrove Park Hospital in an ambulance. A 4x4 emergency vehicle from Wellington also attended the incident.

Elsewhere the car park at Willowbrook Garden and Nursery Centre at Chelston, which has been badly affected by floods in the past, was under water on Monday but buildings were not affected, although it was a ‘close call’.

The rain eased yesterday (Tuesday) and the forecast is for drier and milder weather for the rest of the week.