Around 150 people have been rescued or evacuated from homes and caravans after severe flooding in Wales. Three people received treatment after sustaining minor injuries.

Villages in Ceredigion, west Wales, have been cut off by the floodwater, according to Dyfed Powys police. A major rescue operation is continuing with emergency services evacuating villages and caravan parks and getting people to safety, some via helicopter.

Senior politicians, including the prime minister, David Cameron, paid tribute on Saturday night to the RAF helicopter crews, fire service teams, coastguard and lifeboat crews, and the emergency services who ensured there were no serious casualties.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister has spoken with the Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, and the secretary of state for Wales, Cheryl Gillan, to be fully briefed on the flooding in the west of the country.

"Mr Cameron offered his full support to all those affected by the extreme weather and passed on his thanks to the dedication of the RAF, lifeboat crews, emergency and other local services who have worked tirelessly to make people safe and keep disruption to a minimum."

Early on Saturday a lifeboat crew attempting to rescue holidaymakers at a flooded caravan park had to be airlifted to safety after a river burst its banks. Six people were airlifted by RAF Sea King helicopters from the Riverside park in Llandre, near the seaside town of Aberystwyth, and dozens took shelter at a community centre in Talybont.

Chief Inspector Robin Mason, of Dyfed Powys police, said it was difficult to give an exact number of those rescued, but he was "aware of about 30 to 40 people evacuated from various places" and that there were probably more. The police later updated the figure to 150.

He told the BBC: "When caravan parks have about 2ft of water, people have been able to make their own way in an orderly manner. Since dawn, a lot of people have decided to leave by their own accord."

He said some people were trapped in buildings, but added: "However, they are upstairs. We have emergency rescue teams in the area with inflatables and we are in the process of evacuating people."

Fire service rescue boats and vehicles joined inshore lifeboats to help stranded people escape from the Riverside caravan park. The lifeboat crew were rescued when their inflatable boat was swept into a building by the rising water.

A Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said emergency services were called at around 3am and there was "a large amount of water and a heavy current running through the caravan park". He added that there were about 75 fire service personnel in the area, in 15 fire appliances and three or four fire boats.

An RNLI flood rescue team has been asked to evacuate people from static caravans in Aberystwyth Holiday Village, near the mouth of the river Lery, while the Aberystwyth lifeboat has also been launched into the harbour to act as "goalkeepers" in case anyone gets washed down the river.

Nearby Mill House caravan park at Dol-y-Bont was also flooded and about a dozen people needed rescuing. Pat Edwards, 56, whose partner runs Mill House caravan park, said they had not seen flooding like it in 50 years.

About 4ft-5ft of water was flowing through the main street in Talybont, where 30 people were sheltering in the community hall and a pub after being rescued. The spokesman said people were waiting to be evacuated from about 25 more properties.

The rescue teams helped 20 people from their caravans, and two of them needed help from ambulance crews because of mobility difficulties. RAF search and rescue crew member Sergeant Dickie Myers told Sky News: "We were airborne just after five o'clock, we were told there were floods in the area.

"We saw the river was fairly swollen, the water level was above car levels in some places, and up to the windows of static caravans. Thankfully, there was an on scene co-ordinator from the coastguard. We did all we could and when we left the area we felt we'd helped everybody that we could."

Sam Ebenezer, a Talybon resident, told the BBC: "The amount of water is just amazing, it's flowing from higher ground. Incredible scenes. It's devastating seeing close friends' housing being soaked all the way through. The fire crews have done an amazing job.

"Older residents are saying that in 60 years they've never seen the river as high as this. I think it's high tide at around 12 o'clock, we're hoping that's not going to make more mess."