Carlisle was hammered by the most rainfall in the country on Wednesday, causing chaos as rivers flooded across the city and wider Cumbria. 

In total, 65.6mm of rain fell in the space of 24 hours in Carlisle, following a yellow weather warning for heavy rain from the Met Office.

The Environment Agency issued a severe flood warning for the rivers Roe and Ive from Highbridge to Stockdalewath, south of Carlisle, suggesting that there would be a 'risk to life' due to rapidly rising water levels and currents.

News and Star: Two walkers at Bousteads Grassing, Carlisle, look across flooded Cummersdale Homes fieldsTwo walkers at Bousteads Grassing, Carlisle, look across flooded Cummersdale Homes fields (Image: Supplied)

The gov.uk website also suggested that flooding was expected in 20 different locations across Cumbria, with the River Eden, River Caldew and River Petteril all experiencing unprecedented water levels.

Local emergency services and Cumberland Council urged people not to travel by car, as a number of roads were flooded on Thursday morning due to the extreme weather overnight. 

Chief superintendent of Cumbria Police, Mick Bird, helped to set up a multi-agency co-ordination group overnight to deal with the localised flooding.

He said: "Emergency services have been responding throughout the night to calls for service following persistent rainfall, which has resulted in flooding in some parts of the county.

"The flooding is on a small scale and the public can be reassured that the weather forecast is expected to be much more favourable throughout today (Thursday).

"We do expect some impact to travel within Cumbria with some flood water in parts of the county."

News and Star: Mill Race, Warwick BridgeMill Race, Warwick Bridge (Image: Matthew O'Hara)

Train travel was also heavily impacted in the morning of Thursday, with Northern Rail and TransPennine Express both forced to cancel services from Carlisle, while the West Coast Main Line also flooded, affecting trains to and from Carlisle and Penrith.

Cumberland Council made the decision to close the play park area of Bitts Park due to the amount of standing water present and the levels of the River Eden.

While rain continued to fall in Carlisle on Thursday, it was a far cry from the relentless weather experienced on Wednesday, and the forecast suggests that by Saturday, the sun will be back out in the border city.