AN MP has urged the government to make sure Cumbria is properly protected ahead of the winter - as the Met Office warns more stormy conditions could be on the way.

Cumbria's Sue Hayman, Labour's shadow floods minister, says yesterday's latest flooding incidents across the county show that Cumbria needs to be taken seriously when asking for support.

The Met Office says that while the worst of the rain has now moved away from the county, wet and windy weather is likely to continue.

"We have a tropical storm on its way from the Atlantic which is heading our direction," a spokesman said.

Mrs Hayman, the MP for Workington, revealed that at her own home in west Cumbria, her husband and neighbours had spent several hours pumping water away.

"It came onto the property and came in one of the barns," she told The Mail. "I feel for all the people who don't have those kind of systems in place.

"What this does is send a message to the government, that what we have been saying is the truth. We've been telling them over and over again that this is not a once in a 30 or 40 years occurrence."

The Labour politician added: "I keep saying to the government we need to do something before the winter, because once it comes we're going to have problems.

"We flood more frequently and we have more infrastructure damage and we need to be taken seriously."

Torrential downpours led to widespread chaos across the county yesterday, as rivers swelled, roads flooded, schools closed and many parts of the county were hit by traffic chaos.

The rain had been forecast along with a yellow weather warning. At the peak of the bad weather, 18 flood warnings were in place across the county.

In the south, the A590 was closed at the Brettargh Holt roundabout as the road flooded. And the A595 was impassable at Bootle as the weather took its toll.

Pockets of the A591 through the Lake District were not passable by car, while Town Beck and Dragley Beck in Ulverston became raging torrents as water cascaded down from the fells.