HUNDREDS of heroic emergency workers who have battled tirelessly to beat back rising flood waters were praying last night that their monumental efforts had succeeded.

Across the region, they have worked round the clock shoring up flood defences with sandbags as rivers threatened to wreak further devastation. The effort included:

l York - soldiers reinforced barriers which the Environment Agency said were being tested like never before.

l South Church, County Durham - a lorry-load of clay was transformed into a hastily-constructed earth bank to avert a repeat of heavy flooding which swept through homes in June.

l Carlin How, east Cleveland - residents bagged a ten-tonne load of sand to protect properties.

l Croft, near Darlington - a massive sandbag barricade constructed alongside the swollen River Tees.

Elsewhere, similar feats of determination have ensured that flood damage was not as devastating as it could have been. However, the flooding still caused widespread chaos, with many roads in the region closed.

Woodham Comprehensive School in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is due to be closed today and tomorrow, and Bishop Auckland College has cancelled an open evening tonight.

Last night, families in Victoria Embankment in Darlington were warned that the Skerne was in danger of flooding.

The Environment Agency said it had 39 severe flood warnings of "imminent danger" to life and property on 29 rivers nationwide.

Weather forecasters yesterday predicted that miserable weather conditions would continue right through to Christmas.

Piers Corbyn, of Weather Action, who bases his forecasts on solar activity, said: "This is a severe weather warning. It will be as bad as we have seen and probably worse."

It is a nightmare scenario that the Environment Agency is praying will not materialise.

Chief executive Ed Gallagher said: "We are beginning to get concerned about our flood defences, as they have taken a real battering.

"If we have another week or two of heavy rain we would see more serious flooding."

Residents in flood risk areas went to bed last night hoping without expectation that the latest catalogue of disastrous weather would abate.

The River Ouse peaked in York last night just after 7pm at 5.1 metres above normal, which was not as bad as had been feared.

Other rivers, including the Gaunless in County Durham, were showing signs of receding.

More than 2,000 people were last night evacuated from their homes in Barlby and Selby.

And RSPCA officials said they spotted a seal in Malton, North Yorkshire - even though the town is 25 miles inland