Dozens of trapped shoppers and staff bedded down inside a shopping centre overnight after a "near biblical" deluge caused some of the worst flooding in years with up to 112mm of rain.
Customers, including children, slept on benches inside a food court and bought pyjamas from shops at the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield as roads, car parks and homes flooded after more than a month's worth of rain fell in a single day.
Across South Yorkshire, more than 100 people had to be rescued by firefighters at the height of the disaster in the county.
In Rotherham, firefighters used boats to rescue people from the Parkgate Shopping Park, where abandoned cars sat in murky brown floodwater.
Residents were told to evacuate immediately after the River Don hit its highest recorded level in Doncaster as water levels surged overnight amid more than 240 flood warnings or alerts across waterlogged England.
Were you stranded at the shopping centre or elsewhere due to flooding? Email [email protected].
Commuters in Yorkshire and the Midlands were facing chaos on Friday with roads still under water and a number of railway lines blocked, with Northern Rail issuing a "do not travel" notice due to severe disruption.
Some people couldn't get to work, including Rolls-Royce staff at the plant in Derby, where the site was closed off due to an "emergency flooding situation", DerbyshireLive reported.
Rest centres were set up in Doncaster after the River Don burst its banks, posing a danger to life to residents living close to its banks.
Some were urged to flee their homes due to the extremely dangerous situation, with the river expected to peak at 21ft (6.4 metres) later in the day.
Doncaster Council tweeted at about 7am on Friday: "The River Don is breaching at St Oswald Church, Kirk Sandall. There is a Severe Flood Warning in place for Sandal Grove, Old Kirk Sandall. Residents in these areas are advised to evacuate immediately."
More than 30 homes were evacuated as a precaution in Mansfield after a mudslide in the area.
Displaced homeowners in the Sheffield area will face a mess when they are able to return to their flooded homes.
Totley Primary School was closed due to severe flooding in its boiler room and damage to its electrical systems.
In Derbyshire, Killamarsh Junior School and South Darley Primary School were shut.
The Environment Agency has warned people to stay out of floodwater and avoid raging rivers or streams because they risk being swept away following one of the wettest days in years.
Severe flood warnings, meaning "danger to life", were issued at five points along the River Don, while 119 warnings, meaning "immediate action required", were in place, mostly in Yorkshire, as of Friday at 8.30am.
There are nearly 30 flood warnings in place for Nottinghamshire, which is due to be visited by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.
He tweeted: "Awful to see the terrible flooding across the North of England. Thank you to the emergency staff & volunteers helping families through this difficult time. Pls follow @metoffice for updates in your area or call the flood hotline: 0345 988 1188."
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue rescued more than 100 people and received with more than 500 emergency calls amid the disaster.
Floodwater was waist deep in places in the Sheffield area after 85mm of rain – more than the city's averages for the entire month of November – fell in 24 hours.
Hundreds of people were kept inside Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre due to flooded roads and gridlocked traffic outside.
Dozens were forced to spend the night in the shopping centre, which cancelled its Christmas Live event at the last minute after hundreds of shoppers had already arrived.
Five Guys worker Luke Turner, from Chesterfield, told the BBC he couldn't drive home after his shift, so he slept in a stockroom and used "aprons" as a pillow.
Rosie De Roeck, 16, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, said her mum was able to rescue her just before 1am after she spent about nine hours stranded at the shopping centre.
Describing the ordeal as "quite scary", she said many shoppers bought pyjamas from Primark, which stayed open late.
Starbucks handed out free cookies, a stranded shopper was giving out bags of crisps he had purchased and the Carphone Warehouse was allowing people to charge their mobile phones.
Shopper Becky Laver told BBC Radio Sheffield: "No-one looks happy, everyone looks miserable.
"People are having to buy their own pyjamas and quilts because of how cold and wet they are from the rain."
Harriet Fullen, 16, had travelled from Lincoln to watch Ella Henderson, Tom Zanetti and Jonas Blue perform, only to be told just a fter 5pm that the Christmas event was cancelled.
She told the Guardian: “We had to go and buy our own blankets and pillows and food and drink to supply ourselves, not to mention the new outfits we had to buy due to how wet through ours were from the day.
"People have gone to restaurants to sleep on the booths as all of us are shattered.”
She said about 50-60 people had taken shelter at the Oasis dining area.
Saskia, a student, added: "We were provided with free refreshments throughout the night and morning but it was certainly not enough.
"We had to basically camp out in the food area until they finally got a taxi to us at 7am.
"None of us had slept for over 24 hours. We were very tired, stressed and, of course, our families were panicking and kept keeping in touch.
"My dad even tried driving to us around 11.30pm but, because the centre was gridlocked and also flooded and shut off, he wasn't able to get to us and so he had to turn around and go home.
"At the start we thought it would be fun, a nice sleepover, something to certainly remember, but after 14 hours of being stranded in Meadowhall we just couldn't wait to get home, get into our own beds, feel safe again, and catch up on sleep."
Saskia Hazelwood, 17, from Doncaster, said: "When we got to Meadowhall it was very hectic and we heard about the flooding and saw the river about to burst.
"Our trains were then cancelled so we went to get food, then spoke to the police and security and they told us it was unsafe to leave and there was no way of getting in or out.
"So we instantly started panicking and, when we found out there was no way of getting home, we went into Primark and all bought spare clothes and we bought food and drinks to keep us going throughout the night.
"We were in M&S for a while on the sofas until they closed the store, and we were then moved to the Oasis food quarter. We were there until 7am."
A spokeswoman confirmed that the shopping centre would open as normal at 10am.
She said: "We anticipate that nearly 80,000 people visited Meadowhall yesterday and less than 30 customers remained in our building throughout the night.
"They were supported by night staff, security and members of the Meadowhall management team who, where possible, helped them to either secure hotel accommodation nearby or arrange taxis home.
"For those who were unable to get to their home safely or preferred to stay with us due to adverse weather conditions where they live, we looked after them by providing an array of blankets, coats and towels as well as a continuous supply of refreshments."
Sheffield was particularly badly hit during flooding in summer 2007, which saw millions of pounds spend on prevention schemes.
Yet it was again hit by some of the most dramatic scenes on Thursday, with a number of roads left impassable to traffic, cars stranded in floodwater and gridlock resulting on many routes.
In Rotherham, abandoned cars were still trapped in murky brown water at the Parkgate Shopping Park as water levels remained high on Friday morning.
On Thursday evening, boats were brought in to rescue shoppers who were who trapped.
South Yorkshire Police said there had been "significant issues" in Doncaster, with Bentley, Toll Bar and Scawthorpe the worst affected areas.
The River Don was among the worst affected, having flooded the Rotherham railway station and other areas. Places along the river were still under water on Friday.
A number of houses were evacuated after they were inundated in the village of Whiston, near Rotherham, and, in Sheffield, the council closed Millhouses Park, where a 14-year-old boy was swept to his death in the River Sheaf during the devastating floods in the city in 2007.
PhD student Liz Churton, 58, lost sentimental paintings, art equipment, books and furniture after her basement studio flooded in the space of an hour on Thursday morning.
She said her home in Whiston looked like a "floating boathouse" after water came rushing through the doors of her basement and her garden looked like "one big lake".
She added: "The whole of my basement is flooded and I have a studio down there. It's a couple of metres deep and the house looks like a boathouse."
Northern Rail was experiencing "severe disruption" to its network, with services unable to run from Sheffield to destinations such as Leeds via Moorthorpe, Lincoln, Doncaster and Goole.
Trains are also unable to run on routes such as Manchester Piccadilly-Cleethorpes, Leeds-Doncaster and Hebden Bridge-Rochdale.
Rail replacement bus services are not being provided due to road closures and unsafe driving conditions.
Northern said the disruption would continue into the weekend.
A spokesman said: "We are still advising customers on several routes not to travel as flooding is making rail and road travel extremely difficult.
"Colleagues at Network Rail are inspecting the tracks and working hard to return them to normal, but at present we have no estimate as to when we will be able to operate services on the affected routes."
He added that Northern will "try to run as many services as possible".
Other train companies hit by the weather include CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, LNER, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales and Virgin Trains.
The downpours also caused mayhem on roads as several routes were blocked and some vehicles were abandoned in floodwater.
Elsewhere, Saturday's horse-racing meeting at Doncaster has been cancelled due to a waterlogged track.
The Met Office has predicted the flooding rains will clear and move south-east through the day on Friday, but many flood warnings are expected to remain in place for the next few days with further rain in places at the weekend.
The highest rainfall in the country on Thursday was recorded at Swineshaw in the Peak District, which had 112mm (4.4ins) in the 24 hours to 2am.
The Met Office had issued an amber warning for rain, which expired at 6am.
Forecasters have predicted that the worst of the rain has now been and gone.
Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "Some places have seen a month's worth of rain in one day.
"The rain is easing and moving south but obviously the impact of that will continue to be felt."
Further north, temperatures plunged to about -6C over high ground in Scotland and there was snow in the mountains.
Met Office five-day weather forecast
Friday
Fog patches slow to clear from southern England.
A band of rain across Wales and the Midlands will edge south-eastwards and die out.
North-western areas dry with plenty of sunshine.
Showers affecting north-eastern parts.
Windy in places and feeling cold.
Friday night
Showers clearing the far south-east.
Long clear periods for most parts with a widespread frost and a few fog patches forming.
Rain reaching the far west by dawn.
Saturday
Rain in the west, heavy at times, moving slowly eastwards into central areas; some snow on hills.
Fog patches elsewhere slowly clearing then some sunshine, but cloud increasing.
Feeling cold.
Sunday to Tuesday
Rain clearing southern areas early Sunday then most parts dry with sunny spells.
Further rain or showers on Monday and Tuesday.
Often windy and staying rather cold.
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