Firefighters in Essex were called out to a staggering 120 incidents overnight as the county was battered by heavy rain.

A number of roads were flooded and left under water as a result of the deluge.

Benfleet saw the highest amount of rainfall with more than 50mm recorded, according to the Environment Agency.

The Met Office upgraded its yellow weather warning to amber late last night as flooding continued to be reported across the county.

Essex Fire Service says crews had to lead a number of passengers to safety after their vehicles became stuck in deep water.

Service Delivery Command Manager, James Taylor, said: “Our control team were inundated with calls from around 10:30pm, and have worked tirelessly through the night to offer advice to the local community.

“Crews have been deployed to numerous incidents and have worked hard under challenging circumstances – not only the nature of the incidents they’ve attended, but just getting to the scenes in adverse weather conditions has been a challenge.

“Canvey Island saw a large amount of flooding, but thanks to our detailed risk information plan, we were able to work quickly and efficiently with our partners to ease flooding.

“A huge ‘well done’ to our control team and our crews, particularly those in the south of Essex where we saw high volumes of incidents.”

The fire service has highlighted some of the incidents it responded to in south Essex overnight.

They were:

11.06pm - Benfleet pumping from several houses

Firefighters from Basildon and Maldon used pumps to divert water away from a number of houses in Oakfield Road, Benfleet.

11.20pm - Rescue from car, Wickford

On-call firefighters from Wickford Fire Station rescued a man who was trapped in his car in two feet of floodwater on Southend Road.

11.28pm - Internal flood, Benfleet

Southend firefighters used a poly boom - which acts as a wall to divert water away from an area - at a house in The Oaks, Benfleet after water was flooding into the house.

12.07am - Canvey water pump, flood activation

Crews from Canvey Island and Southend spent three and a half hours working with the Environment Agency in Sommes Avenue, Canvey Island using pumps to divert floodwater.

1.31am – Internal Flooding, Grays

Crews spent almost two hours pumping water from multiple properties in Grays, using pumps to divert floodwater to a nearby drain.

3.11am – Internal Flooding, Rochford

Crews from Southend assisted a man to isolate his electrics after he was unable to access the fuse box due to internal flooding.

3.32am– Internal Flooding, Southend

Crews from Leigh spent an hour pumping floodwater out of a property in Southend after internal flooding affected electrics.

5.55am – Rescue from car, Rayleigh

Crews from Rayleigh Weir led two passengers to safety after their vehicle became stuck in water on Watery Lane.

Following this incident, Highways shut the lane to prevent further incidents.

For the latest on the flooding in south Essex, follow our live blog here