A WOMAN was rescued from flood waters after her car became stuck as she drove along a country road.

She was travelling along an unclassified road at Kirby Wiske, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, when her car became stuck.

The flood waters stretched across the road and North Yorkshire Fire Service was called out to push the vehicle to dry land.

Neither the woman or a male companion was injured in the incident which took place at 10.36am on Sunday, February 6.

The heavy rain also caused problems across the region as large pools of flood waters blocked roads and made them hard to cross.

A man and woman were rescued after their car became stuck in flood waters on Boroughbridge Road, Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Firecrews pushed the car to safety at 3.45pm on Saturday, February 5.

A sheep stuck on a ledge above the swollen River Nidd, near Knaresborough, was lifted to safety by firecrews on Saturday, February 5 at 4.22pm.

Roads near Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales, were also affected by the River Ure flooding.

Flood warnings were put on several rivers and in North Yorkshire these included the River Swale, at Kirby Wiske, near Thirsk, and the River Ure, at Boroughbridge.

Jeff Pacey, area base controller for the agency, said: "The river catchment areas will be fully sated 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’re expecting another 50mm to 70mm of rain to fall.

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

North Yorkshire County councillor John Blackie, who covers the Upper Dales, said the Hawes area was not too badly affected.

He said: "It’s not unusual to have floods on these roads and people up here are used to floods and no where they come and the problems they cause.

"People either don’t venture out in the floods or they go the long way round."

The River Tees burst its banks at High Consicliffe, near Darlington, and was witnessed by walker and photographer Gary Richardson.

He said: "It was no surprise to see the river level so high, after all of the rain over the last couple of days.

"I would say the river was about eight feet above normal, and it was apparent that it had been much higher overnight and the level was actually dropping."

A lorry driver escaped serious injury when his lorry was blown over on a busy dual carriageway as gale force winds and heavy rain battered the area.

The heavy goods lorry was blown onto its side on the A66 on Friday at around 1.30pm about five miles west of Scotch Corner.

The driver escaped shaken but unhurt from the incident at Gilling West as he headed west and the road was closed for several hours.

A second lorry was blown over on the A171 at Ugthorpe, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, on Friday at 12.50pm.

The driver had to be cut free from the vehicle by the fire brigade and he was taken to hospital.