STORM Ciarán, which started to touch down in the Wellington area on Wednesday, was expected to cause some disruption with its strong winds and heavy rain through to Friday (November 3).

Some rural schools were closed, roads flooded, school transport disrupted, and train services cancelled ahead of the worst of the storm.

Wellington firefighters were called out shortly before midnight on Wednesday when cars started to become stuck on floodwaters near West Buckland.

Both Wellington pumps were mobilised and the crews used wading poles and crewsavers to reach the vehicles and rescue the drivers.

The Wellington firefighters were called out again early on Thursday together with crews from Cullompton and Exeter and a flexi duty officer to rescue a motorist stuck in fast flowing flood water in Hemyock.

Police also attended the incident as firefighters donned flood suits and used a triple extension ladder to reach the driver of the BMW car.

Wellington Relief Road and the A38 between Wellington and Taunton was flooded in places although passable, but the Wellington to Nynehead road was impassable with up to three feet of floodwater blocking it, and the road at Tone Green, in Oake, was also affected.

A number of other minor roads were under water in places, and there was surface water on the M5 motorway between Wellington and Taunton.

A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue spokesperson advised motorists to ‘please take care on the roads’.

Governors of Churchstanton Primary School, near Churchinford, on the Blackdown Hills, decided to keep pupils at home on Thursday with headteacher Matt Watson telling parents the closure was due to the risk of ‘high wind speeds, flooding, and falling trees’, while some staff had long journeys to reach the school.

Mr Watson said online learning resources would be available for the children on Thursday and he expected to reopen on Friday.

Great Western Railways and CrossCountry cancelled train services between Taunton and Exeter, while Buses of Somerset cancelled some buses between Rockwell Green and Wellington to Taunton.

More than 30 trees were known to have been brought down overnight Wednesday into Thursday and Travel Somerset said it had 20 crews of tree surgeons on standby ready to deal with potentially unsafe road conditions.

Somerset Council said its highways teams attended more than 100 incidents in the space of about 12 hours overnight, mostly for flooding and fallen trees.

The council said although there were a number of reports of floodwater outside of properties, very few buildings were actually inundated and staff were sent to jet gullies and clear debris with the focus on sites where properties were most at risk of flooding.

Most waste collections were made on Thursday morning with only a small number of areas where localised flooding prevented the crews getting through, and those were going to be returned for as soon as access was possible.

All nine of the council's recycling sites were open as planned.

The Environment Agency warned flooding was possible along the River Tone from Clatworthy Reservoir to Currymoor, and on the Hillfarrance Brook, the Halsewater Stream, and other tributaries in the Tone catchment area

The agency said people should prepare for possible fooding and should monitor local water levels and weather conditions, and avoid using low lying footpaths or entering areas prone to flooding.

A similar alert was issued for the Rivers Clyst and Culm with Hemyock residents warned to be alert for flooding.

The agency said heavy rain falling in the River Culm area would continue throughout Thursday, causing the River Culm to rise and the it was forecast to carry on rising through the day.

Properties and low lying areas around Hemyock, Whitehall Mill, Coldharbour, Willand Factory Cottages and Skinners Farm, Hayne Barton Cottages, and Venn Farm were most likely to start to flood first.

A spokesperson said: "Flood waters may be deep and fast flowing in these areas.

"Residents are strongly urged to take action now. Remain safe and be aware of your local surroundings.

"We will be closely monitoring the situation throughout the day ."

Separately, Wiveliscombe firefighters dealt with a chimney fire in Langley Marsh on Wednesday afternoon.

The fire crew used chimney gear to put it out and gave advice to the homeowners after determining the cause was accidental.

DSFR said it attended more than 10 chimney fires a week during winter time, most of which were caused by dirty chimneys becoming filled with tar, which was ‘extremely flammable’.

The brigade said the build up of flammable tar could be prevented by having chimneys swept regularly.