Beverley Fry got back from Canada recently and was inspired by the weather to build this snow goose in Much Wenlock. Picture by Robin Goodson.

Gale-force winds, torrential rain and more snow wreaked chaos across England and Wales today, leaving thousands of people without power and stranded as the transport network came to a standstill.

The bad weather left treacherous driving conditions and flooding after heavy rain swept across southern England, with some areas recording close to their monthly average rainfall for February in just 24 hours.

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Emergency services were inundated with calls to help with flooding – forcing some people to be evacuated from their homes. 

The storm also brought strong winds, with gusts of up to 60mph in coastal areas, forecasters said. 

The wettest place in Britain was the Isles of Scilly, which saw 55mm of rain over 12 hours yesterday, according to MeteoGroup 

Shropshire escaped the worst of the bad weather, despite forecasters yesterday predicting a “white out” for the county. People across the county were breathing a sigh of relief, as they had just started recovering from last week’s chaos.

John Warner, Shropshire Star weatherman, said: “We really did expect Shropshire to be hit but it was a merciful relief because it could have been really chaotic.”

Mr Warner said the county could be “almost completely dry” for the next four or five days, with frost at night and sunny spells during the day.

In south Shropshire, the road through the Corvedale at Aston Munslow proved to be icy this morning with traffic flowing, although residents said there was only a scattering of snow overnight. 

At Little Stretton, householders woke up to a fresh fall of snow, which measured about two or three inches deep. 

And huge machinery was drafted in to help clear the roads at Enchmarsh, near Cardington, where reports showed a snowfall of about four foot and in some areas drifts of up to eight foot tall were also spotted.

Shropshire Star photographer James Watkins captured the scene which included workers battling with the machinery to clear the roads.

Byn Jones and Nathan Collins, from JC Mansell Contractors in Shrewsbury, have been called upon to clear the roads with a JCB and a snow plough, which grinds all the snow up and chucks it out onto nearby fields.

The pair said they had never seen anything like it before.

This is the first time they have had to dig the snow plough out in about four years.

By Kirsty Smallman and Sophie Bignall