CHAOS has hit the county today with flash floods with parts of the A12 impassable and major traffic problems in Ipswich.Sustained heavy rain has led to a build up of rain on the roads, with drains unable to cope with the downpour.

CHAOS has hit the county today with flash floods with parts of the A12 impassable and major traffic problems in Ipswich.

Sustained heavy rain has led to a build up of rain on the roads, with drains unable to cope with the downpour.

The slip road to Wickham Market, the B1078 junction and the Lower Hacheston turn off on the A12 have been flooded causing road closures.

Photos from Evening Star reader Mark Collings show the A12 between Woodbridge and Wickham Market awash with rain, with water covering both carriageways.

Suffolk Fire Service is pumping water away from parts of the A12 which has been left submerged in deep water.

The emergency services have been inundated with calls following the extreme weather which hit the county this afternoon.

Suffolk police have received a number of calls mainly from the east of the county about severe flooding on many roads.

Tailbacks of more than a mile built up between Ipswich and Lowestoft after a railway crossing at Darsham was struck by lightning, causing the lights to stay on red.

Network Rail engineers have now been able to open the crossing manually and traffic was expected to ease.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman urged people to take care while driving home tonight.

She said: “We advise motorists to moderate their speed to the conditions so everyone can get home safely.”

Disruption to train services on the mainline to and from London was also reported.

Further, lighter, rain is forecast for the rest of the week, with skies expected to clear and temperatures rise by the weekend.

Do you have pictures of the floods that have hit Suffolk? Send your flood pictures and video to suffolkpicturedesk@archant.co.uk or text them to 07843 500911, starting your message ESTAR (text cost 25p plus normal network charges).