A SEVERE weather warning put the region on high alert this week as heavy rain caused chaos.

The Met Office put out the warning on Tuesday night, telling people to expect 15mm of rain in just three hours.

Most of the district escaped any serious problems, but more deluges are being forecast for tomorrow and Friday.

The Environment Agency had one severe flood warning, 76 flood warnings and 203 flood watches in place this morning, including the Vale of Berkeley.

The latest Met Office warning came just 24 hours after nearly an inch of rain had already fallen across Gloucestershire on Monday night, this time flooding many parts including Berkeley, Taits Hill and Stone on the A38.

Penny Wride, a Stone resident, said: "It was difficult to get through Lower Stone. A couple of cars were abandoned.

"The back road between Oldbury and Berkeley was badly flooded and people were just having to turn round."

Surface water also caused problems on Bradley Green near Wotton-under-Edge and in Kingswood.

The spell of bad weather came less than three days after torrential downpours last Friday, barely giving the region time to recover.

The B4066 towards Berkeley, Taits Hill at Stinchcombe, Everlands in Cam and Charfield Road in Kingswood all flooded, as well as several properties in the village.

Paul Hemming, from the Kingswood village hall committee, said: "The water just came off the playing field and rolled across the car park into the village hall.

"The changing rooms, two store rooms and the disabled toilets all had about two to three inches of water."

Gloucestershire highways officials blamed the flooding on blocked water courses and drains.

On higher ground the rain turned to snow and many drivers were faced with blizzards.

Whiteway Hill in Dursley and Stinchcombe Hill became blocked. Crawley Hill in Uley was described as chaotic when the hill became completely covered in snow and thick fog. It is estimated that 15 cars became stuck.

Inspector Steve Templeton, from Dursley Police Station, said: "Almost every call we received on Friday was related to either flooding or snow.

"Mainly people were ringing to say they had abandoned their cars or to say roads were blocked."

Residents are being advised to keep listening to local weather reports and to visit the Environment Agency website www.environment-agency.gov.uk.