Oxfordshire has so far escaped any major flooding problems, although the Environment Agency put seven of the county's rivers on Flood Watch alert.

At RAF Brize Norton, 18.6mm of rain (about three-quarters of an inch) fell in the 12 hours up to 5pm today.

The Flood Watches cover the rivers Evenlode, Ock, Thame, Windrush, Ray, Cole and the Thames between Lechlade and Eynsham Lock. The alert means low-lying land and roads may be at risk of flooding.

Barry Russell, the agency's area flood risk manager, said: "We were aware that these Flood Watches may have caused concern, particularly as it's almost a year since this area saw significant flooding.

"But I want to reassure the public that this is a completely different situation.

"We were expecting much less rain than this time a year ago, and the ground was much more able to absorb this falling rain."

Rail passengers travelling between Didcot Parkway, Swindon and Bristol suffered delays and cancellations early this afternoon, as trains were diverted because of flooding in Wiltshire. Services were back to normal in time for the afternoon rush-hour.