08/12/2015 Newsround

Good morning.

Leah here with the latest on the severe flooding to affect

huge parts of the UK.

There's been more rain overnight in the North of England which is

already deep under water after heavy flooding at the weekend.

Thousands of homes still don't have electricity

and more rain's expected later.

Lots of people have had to leave their homes to sleep in schools

and community centres.

Volunteers are giving out clothes and toys.

Our reporter Nazia's been to one of those special centres.

It's very busy here.

I'm at the Greystone Community Centre in Carlisle where lots

of people have been coming together, donating towels, clothes,

things to keep people warm.

Hundreds of families have been here overnight.

Gareth is here from the community centre.

What has it been like over the past few days?

Very hectic.

We opened late on Friday night and people have been coming ever

since then.

The community spirit has been great.

Children have been bringing their own toys

for other children to play with, families have been been bringing

food for other people to eat.

It has been a tremendous community effort.

What's happened your house?

The water has just went over the radiators,

it has been making the couches float and we had all of the tables

floating and it's just devastating.

What is it like to see all this here?

It's just really satisfying that people are actually helping us and

the community, it's really great.

In the kitchen, if you take a look over here, lots of warm food being

cooked right now to give to people.

A local company has just called to say they're going give free pizza

as well.

Take a look at this, the most important thing - lots of cake!

What have you been doing?

I've been trying to help my brother because he's been flooded

out and he had to get wellies so we are able to help him.

Your house is OK, but you're telling me your friends'

houses aren't OK, are they?

No.

What's it like for them?

It's really devastating because they've had to leave most

of their things behind.

How nice is it to come here to help out?

It's really nice because everyone is trying their hardest to help

other people, even if they haven't got flooded, they're trying to

help people that have, trying to keep them safe and everything.

And it's not just people who have been rescued.

This dog was carried to safety from deep water in Corbridge

in Northumberland.

And this donkey was rescued from thick mud and deep water

in Kerry in Ireland.

Volunteers used a small boat and a life belt to drag him to safety.

And have you or your school been affected by flooding?

Send your stories into our website.

In other news, schools are closed in the capital of China,

Beijing, because of heavy smog.

The government's put out its highest red alert for the next few days.

Many vehicles have also been banned from the roads.

Now, have you written your Christmas list yet?

Well, one animal lover got a big surprise when his mum found

a small lizard in her veggies!

And he gets to keep it.

Martin went to meet him.

Animal lover Charlie is not short of pets - Max the dog, Snowy the

rabbit, turtles Dippy and Dipper, Dougie Feathers and a pet fish, too.

But last year, all Charlie really wanted for Christmas was a lizard.

Charlie was bothering me to death.

He wanted a gecko for Christmas.

I said no chance, we have that many animals in this

house, we're not having any more!

I got the veg out and I thought I would do it on Christmas Eve,

chopping my veg up at the sink and as I was chopping it up

and putting it into the saucepan, there was a lizard.

My husband was sat there, so I shouted "Greg, there's

a lizard on top of this broccoli!"

Here he is.

Introduce me to this little guy.

His name is Brock because my mum found him in broccoli.

She ran into the kitchen with a sandwich box,

so when I want to see what it was, to my surprise, it was a gecko.

The RSPCA had said they couldn't pick it up on Christmas Day,

but when I heard them say they couldn't pick it up, I thought they

were going to take it away.

They said that if we got the right stuff and the right crickets,

that we could keep the lizard.

Geckos are not found in cold climates like here in the UK.

As reptiles, they can't produce their own body

heat, so they prefer to live in warm countries like Spain for example.

It's very important to do the research when it comes to reptiles.

Brock is a very lucky gecko.

Charlie has done his research.

You've got to think of the type of climate they come from.

You've also got to think of their food source.

Some geckos eat fruit-based things, some are insect eaters, so you need

to know what type you've got.

Well, Charlie, Brock looks as if he's doing well.

You definitely got your Christmas wish last year.

What's your big wish this year?

Well, Martin, I'm looking for something a bit bigger this year.

MUM: Charlie!

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS.

There wasn't really an elephant in the kitchen!

But it is time to open door eight on the Newsround advent calendar,

which is on our website.

This week it's your best jokes, so keep the videos coming in.

What do you call a snowman with no face?

Snow-face.

OK, that's all from me and the Newsround team for now.

Join us back at 4:20pm

when we'll have much more on the flooding.

Bye!