TWENTY flood warnings are in place in the North-East and North Yorkshire tonight as rain-sodden 2012 comes to an end.

Almost 8,000 homes and businesses have been flooded across the country this year (2012) and the nightmare has just carried on for many communities. The 20 flood warnings in place in place tonight (Monday, December 31) are largely in North Yorkshire, where the endless deluges have continued to cause travel problems.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue warned drivers to take care after two separate incidents in which people had to be rescued from cars at Cattall Bridge, near Knaresborough. Fire crews were called in to save a driver from the roof of his BMW just before 11am after he tried to drive through four feet of floodwater, ignoring warning signs. Later in the day five people had to be rescued from another car which had got stuck in the same floods.

Fire service spokesman Peter Hudson said: "We would appeal to drivers not to go through flood water, it is dangerous for them and for the people involved in rescuing them. "Manhole covers can be blown off by the floods so you don’t know if the gound levels are okay. We have to go in with sticks and throw lines, we really would appeal to people not to go through floodwater.”

While the weather is supposed to improve over the next few days, water is still coming off the hills and most rivers are not expected to peak until noon tomorrow (Tuesday, January 1).

The National Farmers Union said the wet weather been catastrophic for the industry with many farmers unable to get on the land to tend to crops and livestock.

Overnight, the Environment Agency warned the upper Swale was causing problems with concerns at Brompton on Swale, near Richmond, where the river was 1.9 metres and rising.

Kirby Wiske was also on alert, along with the Ure at Masham and at Aldwark. The River Ouse at York is forecast to rise to over four metres by lunchtime tomorrow. One of the biggest concerns is the amount of groundwater with downpours falling on saturated land. An agency spokesman said they expect to issue more warnings over the next few days as river levels peak.

“We have had about 40ml of rain falling mostly on the Pennines but that is coming down the rivers. It is not as bad as it was in September, but it is affecting roads, the flood plains are now filling up and that has been causing problems on the roads."

North Yorkshire Police appealed to drivers to find alternative routes and not go through closed roads.

“We also remind those with 4x4 vehicles to drive with care and avoid creating bow waves that can cause more misery for people in flood-hit areas,” said a spokesman.

Hambleton District Council leader Neville Huxtable said the authority has delivered a record number of sandbags this year with thousands being distributed to communities across the area. “It has been a miserable year for many people. We can’t do anything about the floods, but we can try and help households,” he said.