There were scenes of devastation across Britain on Sunday as Storm Bella left floods, 100mph winds and power cuts for thousands in its wake.
Hundreds of homes were flooded on Christmas Day and Boxing Day after heavy rain caused many rivers to break their banks.
Overnight on Sunday gales hit Wales and the South coast - with one gust of 106mph recorded on the Isle of Wight.
The high winds brought down power lines across the country, leaving many homes without electricity.
However, there is now a message of hope from forecasters with the Met Office predicting the final days of 2020 will be cold - but largely dry.
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Victoria Granger, 45, and her family were marooned inside their home throughout Christmas and Boxing Day by floodwater from the River Great Ouse.
The mum-of-two said: “I sat at my kitchen window all night on Christmas Eve watching the water get closer and closer.
“I just couldn’t sleep but at 6am two excited boys woke up thinking Father Christmas had visited.
“They were oblivious to the night we had and the fact that our house was surrounded by the river.
“We were completely marooned so we just cracked on and had fun - the power downstairs even returned at midday.
“I managed to get a full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings on the table by 3pm, which is my biggest achievement of the year.
“We were overwhelmed by support from the local community.”
Victoria, husband John, 52, and their sons Ezra, 14 and Jed, two, live in the Bedfordshire village of Harrold.
Their car is believed to have been written off by the floodwater, which stopped at their front door but destroyed white goods in a utility room.
On Christmas Day a specialist team visited the same village to save a 45kg Great Dane named Brian And Steve James, 58, who lives in nearby St Ives, Cambs., performed a similar rescue after waking on Christmas Eve to find his home 18in underwater.
He ran downstairs to discover eight-month-old puppy Charlie trapped in his cage just minutes from death.
Steve explained: “I just thought ‘oh my God the dog’s dead’.
“I opened the cage and he was there, more or less on his tiptoes with his muzzle sticking out of the water, just shivering.
“So I grabbed him, ran upstairs and wrapped him in a quilt. He faded in and out a few times, and then came back, and he’s right as rain now.”
Steve, his wife and their three children, aged 14, 16 and 18, have been temporarily housed in a fishing lodge by their insurance company.
All of the family’s presents were ruined in the floodwater, but he added:
“I’ll never forget the love and help that this community has shown to us.”
The worst of the flooding took place in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, but communities in Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Worcestershire were also hit.
Two 'threat to life' flood warnings remained in place in Northamptonshire today, where two caravan parks were left underwater and more than 1,000 people evacuated on Christmas Day.
In total there were 108 flood warnings and 204 Environment Agency flood alerts in place across England.
But as the waters receded on Sunday fresh chaos was caused by severe gales.
The top wind speed was recorded at the Isle of Wight’s iconic Needles rock formation on Saturday.
On mainland Britain Aberdaron in north west Wales experienced gusts of 83mph, while Portland in Dorset saw 79mph.
Falling trees caused power cuts in south Wales, Cornwall, Bristol, Hampshire and even Norfolk.
A combination of floods and high winds also triggered massive disruption to the rail network.
Great Western Railway said all services between Bournemouth and Southampton were stopped due to water on the line.
A major branch into London was also blocked when a tree fell onto tracks in Haslemere, Surrey, while a similar line closure occurred in Hastings, Sussex.
The ports of Dover and Calais said Channel crossings had been affected by the weather, with strong winds and fog leaving a “risk of delays”.
Many local roads were also temporarily closed by branches and trees.
On Boxing Day North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service rescued several motorists who had become stranded in floodwater.
One couple inside a car with their two dogs miraculously survived being washed down a road and through a gap in the wall.
A fire service spokesman said: “On arrival, Hawes crew sent in 3 personnel in water rescue gear but they were unable to reach the occupants of the car so we waited for the specialist water rescue team from Richmond to help using their boat.
“All okay, except for the car.”
On Sunday, the Met Office weather warnings for wind and heavy rain shifted to yellow alerts for ice and snow across Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland and parts of North Wales.
The warning will continue into Monday with a band of rain and sleet expected to deliver up to 2in of snow on higher ground.
Meteorologists believe snow and ice could also pose a risk to more central areas of England on Monday.
Met office forecaster Simon Partridge said parts of Cumbria saw 109mm rain over the last 24 hours, around two thirds the monthly average of 160mm.
But he added: “Things are improving now, which is good news for the areas hit by flooding “Storm Bella itself is technically still with us although the wind and rain cleared the East coast this morning.
“The worst has now left the UK but it will stay very cold thanks to northerly air.
“We should see sunny spells, mostly dry with scattered showers, all the way up until New Year’s Eve.”
Temperatures in the North will be between 3-5C during this period with the South seeing 6-7C.
Long-range forecasts suggest January will be slightly colder than average but high pressure could persist.
