Downpours and gales batter Britain as 2012 is declared wettest year ever The number of flood warning across the UK is steadily decreasing, but remains at more than 260. The Thames Barrier was closed yesterday amid fears of flooding, as the Environment Agency warned of swollen rivers and saturated ground. Severe problems on rail and road will continue today, with wet conditions still causing cancellations and serious delays on trains throughout the South West. Signalling problems are already causing significant delays in and out of Norwich, Manchester and Liverpool, while engineering works blight routes from London to Ramsgate. The A27 near Chichester is still suffering the effects of flooding, while emergency works at junction 11 of the M20 is causing delays. Yesterday, floods caused thousands of pounds of damage at a monkey sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall, while in Hemingford Abbots, Cambridgeshire, a thatched cottage was flooded for the first time in 300 years after the Great Ouse burst its banks. Police warned the public not to take "stupid" risks after firefighters were called to rescue a 10-year-old boy who had jumped in to a swollen River Kennet in Reading in a wet suit insisting he wanted to go for a swim. An amber landslide warning was put in place by the British Geological Survey has for the South West, who urged walkers to take care along coastal routes. The stormy weather was being blamed for fires at a school and hotel within a few miles of each other in Dorset yesterday. Lightning is believed to have started blazes at Lytchett Minster School and the derelict Cliff House Hotel in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth. In a third incident, 20 sheep died in a barn fire at Stalbridge, near Shaftesbury, with lightning during storms in the county overnight again suspected as the trigger for the blaze. Matt Dobson, forecaster at MeteoGroup, said today was due to begin with a "very wet start for most people" but that temperatures were set to rise. "Despite all the rain it will be a much milder day than we've seen recently," he said. Across the country we could see anything between 10C and 13C as a maximum. The worst of the rain today will be across the north and west of Scotland, but elsewhere it will turn much more patchy after midmorning. Looking ahead to New Year he said revellers in England and Wales could expect the rain to ease up on Monday evening. He said: "On the big evening itself it looks like many parts of England and Wales will have a dry evening by the time it gets to midnight. But, in Scotland and for the North it will be windy with heavy showers.