Emergency chiefs in York were today bracing themselves as the next belt of rain was set to hit the area.

The latest weather forecast was for possibly 35mm of rain to fall up to midnight, after a relatively light fall during last night.

The "window" of relatively dry weather during the weekend was used by emer-gency teams to rest some staff ready for the potential coming crisis, and to strengthen flood defences.

But York Police commander Superintendent Gary Barnett warned the city was still on a "knife edge".

With more than 300 homes flooded and more than 60,000 sandbags deployed, but the record levels of the Ouse were falling at 75mm an hour yesterday, though it remained 15ft higher than normal.

Environment Agency spokesman Derek Helliwell said he hoped "enough breathing space" could be created before the effects of today's downpours were seen.

The river was expected to peak again on Tuesday and emergency co-ordinators at "Silver Command" would remain opera-tional until at least that time.

Supt Barnett said: "For the next few days we are still very much in crisis.

"The situation is being monitored minute by minute to keep matters under control.

"It is still too early to asses exactly what is going to happen. It is a matter of sitting and waiting."

Lt Col Ian Cameron-Mowat, commanding officer of Two Signal Regiments, said they were resting the troops in the short-term ready for further re-deployment if necessary to hold back the flood waters.

A City of York Council spokesman said while they were not telling people to stay away from work they did urge them to use public transport to get into the city, to keep roads clear for emergency vehi-cles.

Rawcliffe Park and Rode was due to re-sume services from 7am today, and council workers had managed to reopen Main Street, Church Lane and Simbalk Lane.

Lendal Bridge was completely reopened to traffic yesterday morning. The only York school closed today was Naburn Primary.

Among the sightseers and film crews vis-iting the city was a team from the Army, who gained a bird's eye view in an RAF Sea King helicopter which hovered over the city.

The severe flood warnings for the city centre and Rawcliffe were yesterday downgraded to flood watches, though severe warnings remained in place for the River Derwent from Elvington to Barmby Barrage.

Severe flood warnings remained in place in Malton, Old Malton and Norton, with the River Derwent in Malton falling ten inches between its peak on Saturday and yesterday afternoon.