AN adult and two children were rescued from a car at the Hendre, outside Monmouth on Monday 23rd December.

The car had reportedly become stranded in flood waters, trapping the three occupants at Abbey Bridge.

Fire crews and a rescue boat from Barry were called out to assist in the rescue.

Across the county during this festive period, storms have threatened to put a stop to Christmas celebrations.

The River Usk, pictured, rose to worrying heights in the town, and had a flood warning placed on it. Many residents of Usk prepared their homes with sandbags.

Power cables have been pulled down in the high winds, and in Catbrook, the Fountain Inn suffered from severe flooding.

Also pictured is some of the damage caused to Chepstow Park Wood.

Monmouthshire County Council staff worked around the clock over Christmas to clear fallen trees and make roads safe, with surface water being the main danger for motorists.

Monday's high winds and torrential rain resulted in flooding and fallen trees, putting serious pressure on the council's highways and grounds staff working in difficult circumstances.

"It's been a pretty tough shift and I think our staff have been pretty special, as have colleagues in wider public service," said Monmouthshire's Chief Executive Paul Matthews.

"Roads have been kept open and safe allowing people to travel in the run up to Christmas and businesses are able to operate as usual.  Our staff have spent the night dealing with floods, delivering and distributing sandbags and removing fallen branches in very unpleasant conditions."

Council Leader Peter Fox added: "At a time when many people have begun their well-earned Christmas break, weather like this reminds us that hardworking council officers, as well as workers in other public services, are on call 365 days a year to deal with all kinds of disruption and emergencies.

"Our thoughts meanwhile are with those people who have borne the brunt of this weather and we hope that they haven't suffered too much damage".

The council has its usual contingency plans in place to deal with any continuing severe conditions over the remaining festive period. Residents are advised to contact the council's website www.

monmouthshire.gov.

uk or Twitter site @monmouthshirecc for further updates.