Thousands of people were evacuated from towns along Britain's east coast after the Met Office issued severe weather warnings for combinations of high winds, snow and ice.
Rescue services in Norfolk said they were called to incidents to "assist with flooding", and rescuing people stuck in flood water.
Yet for many, the expected flooding and chaos did not come, leaving residents breathing a sigh of relief.
An elderly woman and two children were rescued from their car that was floating in 3ft of flood water at Hornsea seafront in Yorkshire.
Hornsea Rescue worker Karl Shannon, who happened to be passing at the time, tethered the floating vehicle to a lam post using the car's seat belts before pulling the children and driver out the windows.
Shortly after the family were brought to safety, the car sank.
Mr Shannon told BBC Radio Humberside:
Residents who fled their homes amid fears of flooding breathed a sigh of relief as the expected storm surge failed to materialise.
The Environment Agency says the weather has not been as bad as feared, but around 30 flood warnings remain in place
The Environmental Agency has issued 16 severe flood warnings, meaning a danger to life, as Britain's east coast braces for stormy weather.