:00:00. > 3:59:59struggled with an Australian barrage all tour. Let's hope this guy has a
:00:00. > :00:11.lot Good evening. A man's died in Devon
:00:12. > :00:15.after being swept away while trying to rescue his dog as river levels
:00:16. > :00:18.rose in the stormy weather of the last 24 hours. It happened this
:00:19. > :00:21.morning in Newton Abbot after more than four inches of rain fell
:00:22. > :00:33.overnight. Live now to our reporter Andrea Ormsby who's at the river.
:00:34. > :00:37.Dreadful news today, especially today being Christmas eve, which
:00:38. > :00:43.makes it all the more poignant. The 46`year`old local man was walking
:00:44. > :00:49.his dog on the edge of the River Leven `` River Lemon. He jumped in
:00:50. > :00:53.after his dog. You can see and hear the River tonight. It is not
:00:54. > :00:57.normally like this. It is incredibly high and fast moving after two days
:00:58. > :01:02.of virtually constant torrential rain. The man was swept down the
:01:03. > :01:08.river for some way. We understand he reached a culvert which runs
:01:09. > :01:13.underneath Newton Abbott. He was then pulled out by police officers
:01:14. > :01:18.and coastguard teams. They tried to resuscitate him. The air ambulance
:01:19. > :01:22.then landed and took him and his family, who were shopping in the
:01:23. > :01:26.supermarket nearby, to the hospital, but the sad news this
:01:27. > :01:29.afternoon is that he died. The dog was rescued, but police are saying
:01:30. > :01:32.please do not risk going into dangerous waters.
:01:33. > :01:35.Winds gusting to more than 80mph and heavy rain caused major problems for
:01:36. > :01:39.people travelling by road and rail today. Almost 2,000 families were
:01:40. > :01:43.without power, with Cornwall and Torbay the worst affected areas.
:01:44. > :01:46.Rivers burst their banks, roads, homes have been flooded and train
:01:47. > :01:53.services have been disrupted. Some passengers were stranded for eight
:01:54. > :01:57.hours, as Hamish Marshall reports. Tired and jaded, these passengers
:01:58. > :02:02.have been stranded all night on a train at Taunton. The train got
:02:03. > :02:08.stuck in the middle of the night because it hit a tree. We have been
:02:09. > :02:12.stuck it since about 1am. For passengers at Exeter Saint Davids,
:02:13. > :02:16.flooding on the line means it is coaches, rather than trains. As long
:02:17. > :02:20.as they get home, that's the main thing. As soon as I sat on the
:02:21. > :02:27.train, they announced there would be no trains from Exeter and note us as
:02:28. > :02:30.until 10am. Fallen trees, flooding and signal problems have caused
:02:31. > :02:34.major headaches. There will be a lot of longer journeys today, right
:02:35. > :02:39.across the country. Lots of floods, speed restrictions in place. The new
:02:40. > :02:44.booms were employed at Cowley Bridge to stop the water doing more damage.
:02:45. > :02:51.Many roads have been impossible to standard vehicles. This car could
:02:52. > :02:56.not finish the journey it started. This was one of dozens of roads that
:02:57. > :03:00.became impossible over night. Cars will not be driving along here any
:03:01. > :03:04.time soon. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue said they dealt with more
:03:05. > :03:08.than 20 drivers who got stuck in their cars in flood water. It was
:03:09. > :03:11.nonstop for highways staff as they tried to weigh up people's safety,
:03:12. > :03:14.while trying to keep traffic moving, like here between Newton Abbot and
:03:15. > :03:19.Ashburton. It is quite deep. It is up to four feet in places, but we
:03:20. > :03:23.have got a crew down there at the moment basically just to try and
:03:24. > :03:26.clear some of the gulleys. In North Devon, one river burst its banks,
:03:27. > :03:29.putting a number of properties at risk of flooding. The number of
:03:30. > :03:37.calls to emergency services ran into the hundreds. This was the A39 in
:03:38. > :03:41.Cornwall. Two sailors have been picked up by a
:03:42. > :03:44.cargo ship after a dramatic rescue mission off the Cornish coast. Their
:03:45. > :03:46.racing yacht Cheminees Poujoulat was seriously damaged in horrendous
:03:47. > :03:50.conditions 170 miles south west of Land's End. Rescue helicopters were
:03:51. > :03:53.forced back by the bad weather but the crew of a Norwegian vessel
:03:54. > :03:55.managed to save them by dropping scrambling nets over the side in a
:03:56. > :04:11.two hour operation. Now, the weather forecast.
:04:12. > :04:15.Good evening. Thankfully, our weather is coming down over the
:04:16. > :04:18.Christmas period, before it gets wet and windy again on Thursday night
:04:19. > :04:22.into Friday. Still some showers around tonight. One or two could be
:04:23. > :04:26.on the heavy side, perhaps turning a bit wintry over the higher ground.
:04:27. > :04:30.Between then we will see some clearer skies, with temperatures
:04:31. > :04:33.falling away to around two or three degrees. The breeze will also die
:04:34. > :04:36.back as they go through the night. Still some showers around for
:04:37. > :04:42.Christmas Day itself, though for many of us, it will be dry at times.
:04:43. > :04:46.Although temperatures may reach eight degrees, it will still feel
:04:47. > :04:50.fairly chilly tomorrow. Boxing Day looks to be a fairly dry and bright
:04:51. > :04:52.start. One to shower through the day, but Thursday evening into
:04:53. > :04:54.Friday is when the wind rain returns.
:04:55. > :04:56.That's all from the Spotlight newsroom tonight. Have a very merry
:04:57. > :05:02.Christmas. Good night. it from us - we are back on Boxing
:05:03. > :05:15.Day at One o'clock. Merry Christmas. Hello. The weather has been a little
:05:16. > :05:19.kinder today to travellers and last-minute Christmas shoppers
:05:20. > :05:20.across England