21 July 2010 Last updated at 03:52 ET

Heavy rain causes flash flooding on Teesside

Drains became "overwhelmed" by water

Hours of heavy rain and thunder storms have caused flash floods and power cuts across Teesside.

Cleveland Fire Brigade said it had dealt with "numerous" incidents relating to flooding.

The Stockton area was particularly badly hit, and crews remained at the scene on Wednesday morning, to prevent water entering homes.

There were also power cuts to more than 40,000 homes and businesses in the Redcar, Guisborough and Marske regions.

Ian Dixon, from Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: "One of the problems that we do have when we get such heavy weather is the sheer volume of water that comes down.

"No matter matter how far we pump it away it always seems to come back as the drain systems become overwhelmed with the amount of water."