Helicopter and boat crews rescued hundreds trapped Saturday after storms whipped through Britain, flooding towns and villages, including William Shakespeare's picturesque birthplace where waters gushed into a theater. Motorists slept overnight in cars on rain-lashed highways, while others were attempting to find vehicles abandoned on major roads Friday after the downpours caused long delays. Meteorologists said many areas of Britain had more than a month's worth of rain in a few hours Friday and predicted more downpours across the weekend. «These are the sorts of rainfalls that we experienced in the past every 100 years, every 150 years, sometimes every 200 years _ they're very extreme, Baroness Barbara Young, chief executive of Britain's Environment Agency, told Sky News. Weather forecaster MeteoGroup UK, said that Pershore, a town around 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of London, was worst hit, drenched by 145.4 millimeters (5.72 inches) of rain in 25 hours, between Thursday and Friday. Usual levels are 50-60 millimeters (2 to 2.3 inches) in a month, the center said. Waters rushed into the basement of the Royal Shakespeare Theater, in Stratford-upon-Avon, around 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London.
