MORE than a week's rain has hammered East Lancashire in half a day.

Torrential rain began in the early hours and has continued unabated.

The Rivers Ribble and Calder burst their banks in places, and flood warnings were issued to five different areas by the Environment Agency.

But despite the treacherous conditions, there were no casualties.

Met Office figures showed that between midnight and 1pm today, 31.8 millimetres of rain fell, a figure that will rise by this evening as the patchy rain continues.

The average January rainfall for Lancashire is 113.8 millimetres.

Heavy rain is set to continue through the day, with up to an inch more predicted to fall before it turns showery at the end of the day.

Forecasters say tonight will bring some clear periods, but temperatures will drop to just above freezing, causing roads to turn icy overnight.

Conditions will improve slightly tomorrow with a dry start, but there will be outbreaks of rain.

A cloudy day is predicted for Wednesday, with patches of rain, and Thursday and Friday are also set to be wet and windy.