DORSET escaped the worst of this weekend’s bad weather, with Devon and Cornwall suffering the largest areas of flooding.

However, fire crews spent the night dealing with a number of incidents, including a man trapped in his vehicle on the A3030 Bishop’s Caundle near Sturminster Newton just after 3.30am.

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Matchams Lane in Christchurch has been closed off overnight due to very deep water and a fallen tree and powerlines.

Busy crews were also forced to make a visit to Yetminster in Somerset to help rescue a man trapped in his car in slow-moving flood waters at 2.23am.

The weather is set to take a turn for the worse later, despite many waking up to a bright morning, and the Met Office is warning that the south west will face gale to severe gale force winds during the day.