Three people were killed yesterday after flash flooding brought misery to residents in parts of Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire police confirmed last night that a 68-year-old man died after he was "swept away" by flood waters in Sheffield.

A spokesman for the force said that two men who attempted to help him were also caught up in the torrent and subsequently taken to the city's Northern general hospital, where one of the men is still being treated.

Police also revealed that the body of a young man was recovered from the river Sheaf following reports that a teenage boy had been swept away by rising waters in the area.

Earlier yesterday it was confirmed that a third man died in Hull after rescuers failed to free his trapped foot from a flooded drain in the city.

As torrential rain fell across England and Wales, emergency services struggled to cope with large volumes of calls from local residents and businesses up and down the country.

In Sheffield three RAF helicopters were brought in to help rescue those stranded by flood water from their roofs, while around 250 people living near Ulley reservoir, to the south of Rotherham, were evacuated amid fears that its dam wall could burst.

"We have taken professional advice from an engineer, who said there is a significant risk that the dam could fail," said a spokeswoman for Rotherham metropolitan borough council.

Those evacuated were taken by bus to the safety of Dinnington Comprehensive School as a precaution.

However, following yesterday's chaos, which saw many areas of the country experience twice the average monthly rainfall for July in one day alone, the Met Office has indicated that weather conditions are set to improve today.

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