Parts of Great Yarmouth and areas in Breckland were hit by flooding last night, with firefighters called to 34 reports.As heavy rain and thunder storms passed over the county, 10 of the reports came in the space of just half-an-hour and two roads in New Buckenham needed to be pumped to clear them of water.

Parts of Great Yarmouth and areas in Breckland were hit by flooding last night, with firefighters called to 34 reports.

As heavy rain and thunder storms passed over the county, 10 of the reports came in the space of just half-an-hour and two roads in New Buckenham needed to be pumped to clear them of water.

Calls regarding flooding were also made from Yarmouth, Bradwell, Mulbarton, Thetford, Garbolidsham, Swaffham, East Harling, Attleborough and Fakenham.

A spokesman for the fire service said: “It appears a front of intensive rainfall passed through Thetford, Diss and then Yarmouth with a separate patch in Kings Lynn.

“It caught a few people out because of the severity of it. We were busy, but as an emergency service we were ready to respond.

“The people working in the call centre did a fantastic job and crews did all they could. When there is a certain level of water it is difficult to get rid of it because there is no where to pump it to.”

Crews dealt with several flooded roads, but most of the call outs were to individual homes, where elderly people were worried about the rising levels of water.

Great Yarmouth was one of the towns along the Norfolk coast hit by a flood in November last year.

A combination of unseasonably high tides low pressure and north-westerly winds created a tidal surge which meant thousands of families were evacuated from their homes.

South Quay and parts of Southtown Road in Yarmouth suffered flooding and the A47, the A12 and A1064 were closed to incoming traffic but the majority of the town was spared.

Today Anglian Water announced it would spend £4.7m to further improve the sewer system in the Northgate Street area of the town.

Since severe rain storms in 2006, which saw six months' worth of rain fall in a few hours, £3 million has already been invested in relining sewers in the town and upgrading the pumping station at Garrison Road.

The new scheme, which comes following extensive investigation, includes a new pumping station with an underground storage tank that can hold up to 850 cubic metres of water.

There will also be a new sewer 1.5 metres in diameter, compared to the average sewer of around 350mm, to be laid in Northgate Street.

Work is expected to start next month, following the holiday season, with completion expected in spring 2009.

And in Norwich the finishing date for work on a bridge has been put back because of the rain.

Norfolk County Council was hoping to have completed maintenance work last weekend on Carrow Bridge, but it could not go ahead due to prolonged heavy rainfall. It will hopefully be carried out on Sunday night instead.

And in Suffolk a mini-tornado hit Lakenheath, uprooting trees, sending fences flying and tearing chunks of tiles from roofs.

Residents in Eriswell Drive, Lakenheath, many of them service personnel from RAF Lakenheath, likened the whirlwind to scenes from the Wizard of Oz - reporting a sudden drop in temperature and frighteningly strong winds. One said walking through the devastated streets this morning was “unreal - like being on a film set.”