25 December 2013 Last updated at 00:05 GMT

Fury as Gatwick travellers stranded amid flood, power chaos

BBC weather forecaster Peter Gibbs has the forecast for the Christmas period

Travellers have voiced anger and frustration after flooding at a Gatwick Airport power station led to cancelled flights and ruined Christmas plans.

Passengers left stranded at the airport have described scenes of "absolute confusion" and "heartbroken" families.

Thousands of homes, mostly in southern England, are facing Christmas morning without power after stormy weather lashed the UK.

And residents in Surrey and Kent are facing serious flood warnings.

The River Mole in Surrey has burst its banks in several areas.

There is an Environment Agency severe flood warning - which means a danger to life - at the Mole at Leatherhead, with already high levels of water expected to peak around midnight.

A "multi-agency response" to flooding is also taking place in Godalming on the River Wey.

The Environment Agency said the River Medway in Kent had continued to rise and flood risks would continue for three days.

Steve Wood said the flood waters had reached houses on the High Street in Tonbridge, Kent

Kent Police said the river had flooded areas from Tonbridge to Allington, with Mereworth and Yalding badly affected.

Emergency services have started evacuating people from their homes in Tonbridge.

A firefighters' strike was due to run between 19:00 GMT and 00:00 in England and Wales.

But due to the serious flooding in Surrey and Kent the fire services there declared a major incident and striking crews were recalled.

Surrey Fire and Rescue tweeted just before 22:00 GMT to say "many rescues" were being made due to the floods.

The power cut at Gatwick's north terminal was caused by flooding on Mole affected airfield substations and saw more than 30 flights cancelled.

All departures, apart from British Airways, were switched to the south terminal.

Around 90 flights are due to leave Gatwick on Christmas Day - including some services rescheduled from Tuesday - and no delays are anticipated, although passengers are advised to check with their airlines before setting off for the airport.

Joe Pattinson, 35, from Wokingham in Surrey, had been due to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona but has ended up returning home.

"It was absolute confusion," he said.

"We'd been waiting for three hours in the queue. There was no information and we couldn't find anyone to explain what we should be doing. Eventually three armed police turned up to try and calm people down.

"Lots of people were getting angry and shouting, they were booing the police and arguing with each other."

A power failure at Gatwick caused delays and cancellations

Jamie Whiteford arrived at Gatwick at 05:30 on Christmas Eve and spent more than 12 hours waiting at the airport for his flight to Edinburgh to depart before it was eventually cancelled.

"Flights around us began to cancel despite being told they were waiting on the buses to transport them and the aircraft were ready.

"Eventually all were cancelled and this caused angry scenes at a flight to Naples which involved a police presence and very confused and untrained staff.

"As I work in the very top end of customer service in central London, I am appalled and disgusted that no one came even admit to fault. It has only angered people more. The faces on families is heartbreaking."

'Restaurant appeal'

The Energy Networks Association said about 75,000 homes were still without power across the UK after "notable collisions" along power lines during the stormy weather.

Power supplier Southern Electric said 44,000 of its customers remained without power.

It said about 19,500 of its customers, most of them in South Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, could be without power overnight.

Engineers will restart work on Christmas Day, a spokesperson for the company said.

UK Power Networks, which supplies power to eight million people in the south of England, said it was aiming to restore power to everyone by the end of Boxing Day. Those whose power is not on by midnight should make contingency plans, it said.

It said it had "appealed to restaurants and pubs in areas still affected by the storm, to let us know if they have any availability to accommodate our customers should they still be without power from the storm tomorrow".

In Devon, a man died after jumping into the River Lemon to rescue his dog.

Witnesses saw the 46-year-old enter the river before being swept away, police said, and he later died in hospital. The dog escaped unharmed.

Footage of flooding around the UK

Meanwhile, about 800 homes in the north of Scotland are still without power, mainly around the Deeside area, Buchan, Elgin, Wick and the Western Isles.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said about 400 of its staff are working to reconnect the properties this evening.

Winds gusting up to 80 mph causing disruption to Christmas travel in Scotland, with the Northern and Western Isles hit by ferry and flight cancellations.

There has been heavy rain in Northern Ireland, while winds in Wales have reached 78mph in Pembrey and 77mph in Aberdaron.

A post mortem examination has been carried out on a woman whose body was recovered from a fast-flowing stream in heavy rain in Gwynedd on Monday.

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The Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry crossings. ferry said it would take the unusual step of operating a Christmas Day sailing following cancellations during the day.

More than 10 flood warnings remain in place across mainland Scotland, with high tide being accompanied by heavy rainfall, but the number is beginning to fall.

The Environment Agency has about 120 flood warnings in place for England and Wales - signifying that flooding is "expected", and more than 200 flood alerts, where flooding is "possible".

BBC Radio Cumbria are reporting that more than 1,000 homes are without electricity in the county. Electricity North West says there is a problem with overhead lines, probably caused by strong winds.

There has been widespread disruption to train services because of the weather with Southern, South West, East Coast, First Capital Connect, Virgin Trains, Arriva Trains Wales and East Coast running amended services.

Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations at Network Rail, said engineers had cleared scores of line blockages and over 200 trees since the stormy weather moved into the UK from the Atlantic during Monday.