Britain 'misses major flooding by a whisker' thanks to break in rain

Fears of a repeat of the devastating floods of 2000 were allayed yesterday as the pressure on Britain's flood defences were eased by a forecast break in the heavy rains.

The Environment Agency said little more than 100 properties had been flooded but was hopeful that the worst had passed.

Many roads were closed and rail routes were badly affected mainly in southern and central England, but a period of dry and cold weather over the weekend and next week was expected to lead to a fall in the levels of swollen rivers.

Despite the widespread travel problems, the damage was much less than anticipated and well short of the cost of the floods in autumn 2000 that left insurers with a £1bn bill. Then about 10,000 properties were damaged and 37,000 were saved by sandbags alone. The Environment Agency said flood defences installed since 2000 had lessened the impact in a month that had seen rainfall 27 per cent above average. The heavy rainfall continued yesterday with 8mm in six hours at Manston, Kent, and 10mm in Herstmonceux, Sussex.

In South Darenth, in Kent, 20 homes were evacuated on Wednesday night by the authorities because of the fear of flooding from the river Darent.

The Environment Agency spokesman, Ray Kemp, said: "We may have missed major flooding by a whisker. We have been watching the graph all morning and it's been very worrying, but hopefully it looks as though things will start to recede.

"But we have to remember there is a long delay time and so are keeping an eye, particularly on East Sussex and the Medway in Kent."

Some of the greatest fears were for Lewes, East Sussex, and Yalding, Kent, where three rivers meet and is regularly flooded after heavy rains.

The Agency said there were still 131 flood warnings in place – 43 in East Anglia, 23 in the Midlands, 21 in the South, 19 in the South-west, 17 in the Thames, and eight in the North-east. Two severe flood warnings were in place yesterday afternoon in East Anglia and the Thames region.

Home owners were warned of a critical point earlier yesterday when more rainfall could have led to the widespread flooding of homes because the sodden ground and swollen rivers were unable to cope with further rainfall.

A National Audit Office report in 2001 said that up to two million homes and buildings in England were at risk of flooding. Changes in climate patterns of rainfall are expected to lead to an increased risk of flooding over the next 50 years.

A section of railway line where a landslide derailed a Brighton-to-London passenger train on Wednesday is expected to open on Monday.