RAF deployed after river bursts banks in Wainfleet amid heavy rain around the UK
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Stacey Foster
A military helicopter has been deployed to assist stranded residents after a river burst its banks following heavy rainfall which caused disruption to several parts of the country.
A Chinook helicopter was deployed in the town of Wainfleet to drop sand in an attempt to stop the flow of water after the River Steeping experienced a breach.
Lincolnshire County Council said the town had more than two months of rain in just two days.
Heavy rainfall sees train passengers stranded and homes flooded
Amber warnings in place as heavy rain prompts ‘treacherous’ conditions
Seventy properties were hit by flooding, but the council warned the number affected could rise as high as 720.
Properties in the area are expected to be without power until Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile a landslip near Corby, Northamptonshire, stopped an East Midlands Train from London to Nottingham on Thursday and saw a second train that came to rescue them also become stuck.
Around 400 passengers were stranded for up to eight hours before being evacuated and one person was treated at the scene in an ambulance by paramedics.
The train operator apologised to the customers involved in the incident, calling it a “challenging situation” due to rubble and serious flooding curbing rescue efforts.
Some East Midlands Trains routes were still affected on Friday morning with National Rail engineers on site to clear the line.
Some 17 flood warnings and 56 flood alerts were issued by the Environment Agency on Friday.
As of 3pm on Thursday, Chillingham Barns in Northumberland had seen the most rainfall, with 48mm falling throughout the day.
The Met Office has warned of more wet weather to come on Friday, and said sunshine and showers will form the backdrop for an unsettled weekend, with thundery outbreaks in places.
Some 15 flood warnings and 51 flood alerts were issued by the Environment Agency on Friday, with the majority in place across the Midlands and North West.
As of June 12, the UK has seen 65.7mm of total rainfall.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said that despite the treacherous conditions, June 2012 remained the wettest on record with 149mm.
"Although we are at a point where some areas have seen their full amounts of monthly rain, so far we don't think we're on track to beat the 2012 record as a wet June," he said.
"It's something we do get now and again, which is obviously unwelcome for those people who have wanted to enjoy nicer weather."
A local landowner called maintenance carried out by the Environment Agency (EA) a "failure" after fields in the rural area were submerged following the river's breach on Wednesday.
Joe Taylor, a small landowner just outside of Wainfleet, said: "The big failure is that the EA hasn't done anything to maintain the river.
"They've done very, very little if any maintenance of Steeping River for the last 20 years. We had problems in 2007.
"We've known and they've known for years that they don't carry out a proper planned maintenance.
"They have done some work on the bank but they've spent a lot more money on badger setts, they've spent about two lots of £300,000 on this particular stretch of the river, they've spent a lot on other parts of it, so it's been wasted money as we consider it."
The 69-year-old added that he had received little information from the emergency services and that rescue efforts should have happened 48 hours ago.
Showers are expected over the weekend but conditions are due to settle down, temperatures are anticipated to rise and no further weather warnings have been issued, the Met Office said.
Warmer air building over Europe will see higher temperatures in parts of the South East next week, with the potential of sunny spells hitting the mid-20s.