Sussex faced a lull in the storm today as the rain and wind dropped off and high tides failed to materialise.

Some areas were slightly flooded overnight but the county avoided the devestation experienced in October.

In Mid Sussex areas such as Ockley Lane in Keymer were hit by the rain, but floods across country roads in the area such as the Wivelsfield-Chailey road have begun to recede.

And at Wakehurst Place, near Haywards Heath, parts of the 180 acre estate have been cordoned off after paths turned into flowing rivers and the pond overflowed to twice its size.

A severe flood warning was removed from the River Ouse last night after it came within a whisker of bursting its banks yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said staff had been in Lewes all night, fearing the tides at midnight would be higher than those yesterday lunchtime, when flood notices were distributed to residents.

She said: "The tides were in fact lower. There were some floods in the Pells area but it is not clear where they came from."

The Winterbourne Stream, which runs near Cliffe High Street, became tide-locked, with water unable to escape into the swollen Ouse, and came close to bursting its banks.

In West Sussex fire appliances are still pumping water in Chichester and Pulborough which have so far avoided flooding although the water levels did rise overnight.

Green Goddesses were being maintained in position today to assist in the pumping operation.

The spokeswoman said: "The Lavant is fed by ground water so although the rain has stopped the levesl are still rising, but slowly.

"We are pumping at full capacity and there have only been isolated spots of flooding round the area."

A flood watch has been issued on the coastal area between Chichester and Selsey but the change of the wind to a North Westerly has reduced the threat.

The spokeswoman said: "Now the rain has stopped and the wind has dropped off things are looking a lot better and it will be more of a recovery time today."

However motorists still faced rush hour chaos this morning after the eastbound-carriageway of the A27 between the Lancing Manor roundabout and the Sussex Pad traffic lights, in Shoreham, was shut.

It was closed after the two days' of heavy rain seeped off the Downs and onto the road.

Police and the Highways Agency decided to set up a contraflow system on the westbound-lane, which was also showing signs of flooding.

The Highways Agency has drafted in a large industrial pump in a bid to shift water from the road through a pipeline to the River Adur half-a-mile away.

But the operation is being overwhelmed by rain running off already saturated countryside.

Problems for drivers this morning were increased by major roadworks on the A27 between Worthing and the Ham Manor traffic lights, Lancing, which has also reduced traffic to a single lane in both directions.