A WOMAN was rescued after her car became stuck in floodwater at the weekend following heavy rain and gale force winds.

The woman’s car was pushed to safety by firefighters after it became stuck in Maunby Lane, Kirby Wiske, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, at 10.35am on Sunday.

A man and woman were rescued after their car became stuck in floodwaters in Boroughbridge Road, Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, at 3.45pm on Saturday.

Again, fire crews pushed the vehicle to safety.

Flood warnings were issued for several rivers in the county including the River Swale at Kirby Wiske, and the River Ure at Boroughbridge.

Heavy rain caused problems as large pools of water blocked roads and made them hard to cross.

Jeff Pacey, from the Environment Agency, said last night: “The river catchment areas will be fully saturated now so further rainfall will cause river levels to rise and there could be some flooding.

“So far, the rivers have mostly stayed within their banks, but we By Ian Noble ian.noble@nne.co.uk are expecting another 50mm to 70mm of rain.

“There are five flood warnings in North Yorkshire and seven flood alerts.”

North Yorkshire county councillor John Blackie, who represents the Upper Dales, said the Hawes area had suffered some flooding, but said it was not unusual.

He said: “People up here are used to floods and the problems they cause.

“People either do not venture out in the floods or they go the long way round.”

The River Tees burst its banks at High Coniscliffe, near Darlington.

Walker Gary Richardson said: “I would say the river was about 8ft above normal, and it was apparent that it had been much higher overnight and the level was actually dropping.”

On Friday afternoon, two lorries were blown onto their sides in separate incidents on the A66 about five miles west of Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire, and on the A171 road at Ugthorpe, near Whitby.

Both drivers escaped serious injury.