EXTREME weather caused chaos this week when heavy rainfall flooded many parts of North Somerset.

EXTREME weather caused chaos this week when heavy rainfall flooded many parts of North Somerset.

The heavy rain on Friday afternoon caused severe damage and power cuts and resulted in hundreds of calls to emergency services.

Workers at a store in Backwell took their own initiative to help people in Farleigh Road when water started to pour down driveways.

Staff from Mica Hardware Store took sandbags out to the houses to stop water running down into about six of the homes in the street.

Staff at Backwell Leisure Centre had to use buckets to bail water out of the building after rivers of rain water ran down the hill behind the centre and into the plant room.

Duty manager, Emily Fisher, said: "As soon as we realised we couldn't stop the water from coming in, we called out the fire service.

"There was no damage to the building but we had to turn the electricity off because the water was rising."

The centre was closed for the evening as the rain water and fire engines tackling the floods prevented people from accessing the building.

Firefighters were called out to Barrow Gurney and Long Ashton Bypass to rescue drivers after their cars became trapped in flood water.

Appliances were also used to pump water out of homes in Easton-in-Gordano and Backwell.

Train services between Weston and Bristol are slowly getting back to normal after severe flooding and a landslip caused the lines to be closed.

The landslip at Flax Bourton has now been cleared but water is still on the lines and trains are travelling through slowly.

While services were cancelled on Friday and Saturday, coaches were provided so commuters could get home safely.

For advice and tips on flooding call the Environment Agency Floodline on 0845 9881188.

* Send us your pictures and emails about the floods to NSTimes@archant.co.uk