Heavy rain began lashing Bahía Blanca in Buenos Aires province at about 04:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Friday, turning streets into rivers and leaving large parts of the city without electricity.

At a local hospital, new-born babies had to be evacuated after flood waters invaded the building. Elsewhere, more than 40 families have had to leave their homes and the airport has been closed.

Local authorities closed schools and suspended public transport. They warned residents to stay at home until further notice.

The authorities said up to 250mm (10in) of rain had already fallen, with another 50-100mm expected before the storm abates.

The city normally receives about 600-650mm of rain a year.

Images shared on social media showed cars being carried off by raging flood waters.

“Due to the climate emergency and in order to protect the safety of residents, the Municipality of Bahía Blanca orders the absolute cessation of all types of activities until further notice,” local officials said.

Bahía Blanca is under a state of emergency and the authorities have opened several evacuation centres in different parts of the city.

Bahía Blanca, a city with about a third of a million inhabitants, is a major port in the south-western part of Buenos Aires province.

Argentina’s Meteorological Service issued a red alert for storms in the area, saying further heavy rains would be accompanied by winds of up to 90 km/h and occasional hail.

Police said the 82-year-old woman’s body was found in a cane paddock in Queensland on Tuesday, two days after a 63-year-old woman died when a dinghy she was in overturned during a rescue attempt.

The region has been inundated since Saturday, with parts of northern Queensland seeing nearly 2m (6.5 ft) of rain.

By Tuesday, conditions were starting to ease – although Queensland Premier David Crisafulli warned it was still “a disaster that’s going to test the resolve of people” during an interview with broadcaster ABC.

He described the devastation as “incredible”, but noted weather conditions had been “really kind” in recent hours. Thousands had begun to return to their homes.

In Townsville, locals woke on Tuesday to grey skies and drizzle, and the news that predicted flooding levels had not materialised there. It was a stark contrast to the intense downpours which have battered the region over the past few days.

“We believe that the danger has passed,” Townsville Local Disaster Management Group chair Andrew Robinson told reporters.

Pointing to earlier forecasts which had suggested up to 2,000 Townsville homes could have faced flood risks, Crisafulli said that “the city had dodged a bullet”.

Local resident Jo Berry told the BBC she and her family were among those returning home on Tuesday, after spending a sleepless night monitoring the rainfall.

“People talk about PTSD when it rains here and I totally understand,” says Ms Berry, formerly from Leicester in the UK.

“We’ve been in the house here for over 20 years, and have been through a few cyclone events and the 2019 flooding so it is not our first rodeo,” she adds, referring to a flooding disaster which caused A$1.24bn (£620m; $770m) in damages.

On Monday night, other local residents told the BBC they were “on a knife edge” as they waited to see whether their houses would survive.

But further north in the state, power outages and damaged roads have made it difficult to assess the full extent of the destruction in towns such as Ingham and Cardwell.

Crisafulli said early reports suggested the damage was “quite frankly incredible” and that Ingham, which is almost entirely without electricity, “remains the biggest challenge”.

“There are people who have been inundated at home, in their businesses and in their farms,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Footage published in local media showed long lines at the town’s supermarket as people waited for critical supplies. Crisafulli said that amid the blackout the local hospital was operating as normal, and a petrol station was open.

The flooding has caused damage to the area’s homes, crops and coastline, local MP Nick Dametto said in a video posted online.

“The inundation is something that I have never seen before,” he said.

Home to fewer than 5,000 people, Ingham was already reeling after the 63-year-old woman died when a State Emergency Service (SES) dinghy capsized during a rescue attempt on Sunday.

The second woman’s body was found on Tuesday just north of Ingham after a neighbour raised the alarm. She was last seen on Monday night in a house, Queensland Police said in a statement.

More than 8,000 properties remain without power across northern Queensland, according to the state’s energy provider, and the partial collapse of a critical highway continues to hinder efforts to assist some of the hardest-hit areas.

Crisafulli said the recovery effort would “take some time” and that the priority in the coming hours would be to work with the army to get power generators to isolated communities and “bring them back online”.

He added that federal funding would help reconstruct the battered Bruce Highway – the state’s main thoroughfare which stretches 1,673km (1,039 miles) from the south.

Located in the tropics, northern Queensland is vulnerable to destructive cyclones, storms, and flooding.

Speaking to the BBC in Townsville, Scott Heron, a local resident and climate expert, said the latest disaster was not unexpected.

“For a long time, climate scientists have been clear that extreme weather events will become more extreme, and we are seeing that,” said Prof Heron , who works at James Cook University and is the Unesco Chair on Climate Vulnerability of Heritage.

Prof Heron urged politicians to consider this as they planned recovery and rebuilding efforts, such as to the Bruce Highway.

It would be “wasting public money” if infrastructure planning, particularly for long-term projects including roads and bridges, did not “incorporate changing threats due to climate change”, he said.

The RAIN project, overseen by Northamptonshire’s councils and funded by the government, will look to turn two hectares (five acres) of farmland close to Brigstock, near Corby, into a wildlife habitat.

Tristan Baxter-Smith, land engagement lead for the project, said it hoped to “create a solution to some of the flooding in the local community”.

He said a technique called natural flood management (NFM) would be used to create water storage and a biodiversity habitat.

The land is owned by farmer Hugh Shrive, who said it would be allowed to flood in future to stop so much water from Harpers Brook going into Brigstock, and places like Sudborough and Lowick too.

“We had a bad flood a couple of months ago. It was an occasional thing years ago, but now it’s getting quite regular,” he said.

No date has been set for the work to begin, but it is hoped to be completed by the end of 2025.

Brigstock village hall was flooded in November and is still drying out.

Sally Wilks, chair of the hall’s committee, said defences were installed in 2020, but water still came in through the floor.

RAIN’s flood resilience work helps residents affected by flooding, but currently it does not cover public assets – meaning the hall remains vulnerable.

Ms Wilks said: “We understand that there’s no funding for community buildings so any extra funding to make the building more resilient we have to find ourselves. The insurance company will only fund so much.”

In the south of the county, the RAIN project is also supporting those affected by flooding in the Wootton Brook catchment area.

Lorraine Morris, 67, has lived in the village of Rothersthorpe for 25 years. She said flooding never used to be a problem, but in the last 18 months water had poured down her driveway during heavy spells of rain.

“It’s really scary. You can be in bed, you hear that sound and you know you’ve got to get up, get your bucket and get bailing,” she said.

Ms Morris is due to benefit from RAIN’s resilience measures, such as auto-closing air bricks and no-return waste valves, which have offered her a “glimmer of hope” for the future.

Ben Thornely, area flood and coast risk manager for the Environment Agency, said the amount of rain in the county in November was “phenomenal”, with 180 tonnes of water a second moving through the River Nene in Northampton.

“Working with councils we need to help communities become more resilient so they’re able to respond quickly to flood risk impacts, and also recover from them more quickly,” he said.

The flooding has claimed a woman’s life and caused havoc across the state’s north, with residents in Townsville, Ingham, and Cardwell among the hardest hit.

“Record” downpours are set to continue, authorities say, with parts of the region already experiencing almost 1.3m (4.2ft) of rain since Saturday, causing rivers and reservoirs to overflow.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who was briefed about the response efforts on Monday – said that the disaster had brought out “the best of Australians”.

“I’ve seen Australians helping one another in their time of need,” he wrote on X, adding that the “threat from floodwaters” would persist in affected areas for days.

Efforts to assist the hardest-hit areas have been hindered by flood damage to parts of the Bruce Highway – the main thoroughfare stretching 1,673km (1039 miles) from the state’s south.

This included the partial collapse of a bridge that could add an extra 700km to driving routes and slow down the delivery of critical supplies, the Queensland Trucking Association told the ABC.

Queensland’s Premier David Crisafulli offered his condolences to the “tight-knit” town of Ingham, after a 63-year-old woman died when a State Emergency Service (SES) dinghy capsized during a rescue attempt on Sunday.

“We are deeply sorry for their loss,” he told reporters on Monday.

Crisafulli also urged all residents located in the so-called “black-zone” of the floods – which includes six Townsville suburbs – to not return home, due to the ongoing threat posed by the nearby Ross River.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said the area had received six months of rainfall in three days.

About 2,000 homes could be inundated as water levels rise before their expected peak on Tuesday, the Townsville Local Disaster Management Group warned.

Many homes have already been flooded. One Ingham resident who lives with her elderly mother told the Townsville Bulletin that she had waited seven hours for emergency services to help them evacuate after their property was affected.

“I was crying, I was hysterical. Someone even hung up on me when I called [emergency number] triple-0, saying: ‘We’re busy,'” she said.

Though rainfall is now easing, major flood warnings remain in place for communities along several rivers.

Crisafulli has warned that Ingham could be on track to experience its worst flooding in 60 years if the Herbert river surpasses a peak of 15.2m.

Emergency responders have continued working around the clock, with the SES receiving 480 calls for help on Sunday night and performing 11 “swift water” rescues. Widespread power outages continue to be reported, making it impossible for some communities to call for assistance.

SES Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy urged people to stay vigilant and check on their neighbours when possible. He added that some 400 people were now being housed in evacuation centres across Townsville, Ingham, and Cardwell.

Authorities have also asked locals to be on the lookout for crocodiles, saying that they could be lurking in streams away from their usual habitats.

Located in the tropics, north Queensland is vulnerable to destructive cyclones, storms, and flooding.

But climate scientists have warned that warmer oceans and a hotter planet are creating the conditions for more intense and frequent extreme rainfall events.

Alison Thomas’s house in Long Stratton, Norfolk, was deluged on Christmas Eve 2020 after 2in (50mm) of rain led to flash flooding.

Mrs Thomas is due to speak at a summit in Norwich, where attendees will include Anglian Water, the Environment Agency, the county council and MPs.

The organisers said they hoped the conference would lead to better flood mitigation and prevention.

It aims to build on the work of the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, formed after the 2020 floods, which saw parts of south Norfolk get a month’s rain in just 24 hours.

“It was a bit surreal, when you realise that you haven’t got control over what’s happening,” said Mrs Thomas, a Conservative county councillor, as she described the flooding at her home.

Along with her daughter, she had been battling to stop the water getting to the front door by “throwing buckets of water over the wall as fast as we could”.

It was only when she went inside that she realised their efforts had been in vain.

“It got in through the entire house. We were battling outside thinking we were keeping the water out.

“Then I came in, took my wellies off and realised my socks were wet. It was up to the first rung of the stairs.”

The North Norfolk Liberal Democrat MP, Steff Aquarone, also due to speak at the conference, said flooding was “devastating” for communities.

“We need to continue to push for more, longer term funding as well as better joined up working between agencies,” he said.

“I hope that the summit is a chance for everyone to get on the same page and make the call loudly and clearly to government, to insurers, and to all those involved in flooding and water management.”

The government has said it is working to improve flood defences and last year launched its Flood Resilience Taskforce.

More than 100 properties have been flooded in greater Lincolnshire, where warnings are in place from Brigg in North Lincolnshire to Market Deeping in South Kesteven.

A major incident was declared by authorities in Lincolnshire on Monday night and a critical incident has been declared by East Midlands Ambulance for the first time.

The teenager got into difficulty on St Nicholas Drive, Grimsby, at about 22:15 GMT on Monday and was led to safety by firefighters, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service reported.

In East Yorkshire, 17 flood warnings have been issued, including for the villages of Bielby, Leven, Routh and Meaux.

About 25 road closures are in place, including the A1 between the B6326 near Newark, Nottinghamshire, and the B1174 near Grantham.

Pat Coates, of Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF), said Boston and Greatford, near Stamford, had been affected by further flooding overnight.

“We’re still assessing the numbers. I haven’t got the exact number of properties, but it was more than a few,” he said.

“We deployed fire resources to assist with pumping to try to reduce the water levels, and we didn’t have to evacuate anybody. People managed to move upstairs and they were prepared for it.”

He said the flood water level was receding, and teams were working to reopen roads.Mr Coates urged people in flood risk areas to check for information and updates.

Stuart Bateman, who owns Batemans brewery in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, said two of his properties in the market town had been flooded.

“They are the same two properties that were flooded 18 months ago. This could have been partially been prevented,” he said.

“One of the properties is still being repaired from the last flood.”

Mr Bateman said the other property had a brewer living in it, and added: “He’s got back in about six months ago and he’s had to move out again.

“It’s the same situation, same problem that we had last time it flooded.”

On Monday, about 50 pupils and their teachers were evacuated from a school in Edenham, near Bourne.

All the roads leading to Edenham Primary School were flooded and volunteers in 4×4 vehicles drove the children to safety, the LRF said.

A Met Office yellow warning for rain covering the county expired at 09:00 GMT on Monday.

Two flood warnings issued for the Yalding area remain in place on the River Medway.

As of 20:00 on Monday, more than 180 flood warnings were in place across England, meaning flooding was to be expected.

Flood warnings are in place for the River Medway between Yalding and Maidstone, and the Little Venice Country Park and Marina.

Just before 08:00 on Monday, the Environment Agency warned that rising river levels were expected to cause flooding, with riverside properties in Wateringbury and East Farleigh most at risk.

Flooding of some properties in Yalding was expected on Monday, the Environment Agency said.

Flood warnings have been removed for stretches of the River Teise in the Lamberhurst and Goudhurst areas.

The Environment Agency has advised property owners with flood resilience measures to deploy them. Flooding is expected at Little Venice, The Tatt and Acott Fields.

River levels are expected to peak in the early afternoon on Monday.

At 20:00 there were 15 flood alerts – meaning flooding is possible – in place across Kent, including along the River Medway and on the River Eden and its tributary Eden Brook.

Low-lying land and roads close to the rivers, particularly around Haxted and Edenbridge, remain most at risk.

At 19:15 on Monday, the public were advised to avoid the area near Hartlake Road in the village of Tudeley, near Tonbridge, due to flooding.

Greater Manchester Police said people became trapped in their homes without running water, while others were rescued from cars stranded in floodwaters.

Some weather warnings for wind and ice remain in place for parts of the UK – and forecaster say temperatures will plummet overnight, with snow due to roll in over the weekend.

Wednesday’s flooding and disruption came after New Year’s Eve events across the country were cancelled due to bad weather – although celebrations in Manchester and London went ahead.

Severe rainfall through the night resulted in flooding in a number of areas across Greater Manchester, the police force said.

Places affected include Bolton, Didsbury, South Manchester, Harpurhey, North Manchester, Stalybridge, Stockport and Wigan.

Flood waters in Stockport have trapped a number of people in their flats without electricity or running water.

Two separate rescues were carried out by authorities overnight in Warrington and nearby Lymm after people became trapped in their vehicles in floodwater.

The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 109 flood warnings in England, mostly concentrated in the North West.

There are also 11 flood warnings in place for north Wales and 17 warnings in place for Scotland.

Previous rain warnings covering parts of the UK, including for rain in north west England, have now been lifted.

In the Highlands, forecasters warned “blizzard conditions are possible”, especially in the far northern regions of Sutherland and Caithness.

London’s New Year’s Day parade suffered a short delay due to the high winds in the capital.

The parade was delayed by 30 minutes to avoid coinciding with a squall line – a narrow band of extremely high wind – that was expected in London around midday.

Organisers said inflatable cartoon characters due to feature in the parade would not be used after advice from the Met Office.

Around 90mm of rain has fallen widely across north west England over the last 24 hours with over 100mm recorded on some hills in north Wales and Cumbria.

There are lane closures on several motorways and roads of north west England.

Rain and strong winds will continue to affect parts of southern England and East Anglia, but the weather will become drier and brighter across Wales, the Midlands and north England with the strong winds easing.

A weather front over Scotland is bringing rain with some sleet and snow over hills. It will bring much colder arctic air as it move southwards, with sunny spells and snow showers following.

A few centimetres of snow is expected at low elevations overnight, but the hills of north Scotland are likely to see 5-10cm of snow in places bringing some local disruption.

It will feel increasingly bitter as arctic air reaches all areas by Thursday.

Over the weekend, there is a yellow snow warning in place for the vast majority of the UK, stretching from southern Scotland, across north England, the Midlands, Wales, over London and across much of the south east and west.

An area of low pressure will move into this cold air on Sunday bringing rain and some disruptive snow on its northern edge.