Sussex was lashed by yet another devastating storm during the night, bringing more floods, damage and roads chaos.

Trees crashed on to cars, homes were damaged, roads were closed and cars crashed after hitting surface flooding.

Fire fighters fought through the night to stop the River Lavant flooding Chichester town centre and nine Green Goddess vehicles were drafted in to assist. The Green Goddesses were called in to help last month and have remained in the city ever since.

A spokesman for West Sussex Fire Brigade said: "The Goddesses have been with us for a while now and were out last night helping to pump the water away.

"There was heavy rainfall last night but operations in Chichester are under control and there is no major damage to report."

The Environment Agency issued 32 flood warnings today, the most serious for the Lavant at Chichester. There was more concern for the Lavant, the Ouse at Lewes and the Cuckmere with the arrival of high tide about lunchtime today.

Homes Fire fighters also received dozens of calls throughout the night from people whose homes had been flooded in West Sussex.

They were called to areas including Midhurst, Pulborough, Singleton and West Marden.

Broadwater Road, in Worthing, was closed this morning after a tree fell and a Land Rover got stuck in a ditch. The two incidents were not connected but happened on the same stretch of road around the same time.

The tree came down near Northbrook College at 6.06am and the vehicle became stuck at 6.17am.

A diversion was put in place for drivers while the incidents were dealt with and the road was re-opened at 7.20am.

Winds gusted to 80mph and another inch of rain fell overnight. The county has now received more than three inches so far this month, almost the monthly average.

Hove weather expert Ken Woodhams said more than 45 inches have fallen this year, and if another inch arrives then it will be the wettest for more than 100 years.

Two 36ft yachts which became stranded at sea in storm-force winds were escorted to safety by a lifeboat last night.

The Happy Dawn and Happy Morning contacted Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne, by radio after experiencing difficulties entering the harbour in Force 10 conditions.

Eastbourne Lifeboat escorted them in turn into the harbour, finishing at about 10.30pm.

Hundreds of tons of cliff crashed down at the rear of the Asda supermarket at Brighton Marina, blocking the Undercliff Walk.

And firefighters fought through the night to stop the River Lavant flooding Chichester town centre with the aid of nine Green Goddess vehicles.

Two vehicles ploughed through floods and crashed on the M23 at Crawley. A 23-year-old Horsham man driving a VW Golf was seriously hurt while a 31-year-old Brighton man in a van walked away unscathed.

The Environment Agency issued 32 flood warnings today.

There was concern for the Ouse at Lewes and the Cuckmere with hide tide at about lunchtime.

Driver Brian Kearney had a narrow escape when a tree crashed just feet behind his car in gales last night. Mr Kearney, 31, was driving along the A24 at Findon at 10pm when a large section of a fir tree smashed into the passenger side of his Volvo.

He slammed on the brakes as the rest of the tree fell behind his car.

Mr Kearney, director of Horsham Business Systems, said: "I looked in my mirror and could see the rest of the tree come down right behind me and fall across both lanes.

"Less than a second later and the tree would have been right on top of my car.

"I put my hazard lights on and called the police on my phone and as I was talking I saw another car drive straight into the tree."

The wall of a house in Harebeating Drive, Hailsham, was blown away in the storms, leaving a gaping hole.