More than 100 people were evacuated from their homes in Dorset in the early hours of Christmas Day after the river Stour burst its banks and swept through parts of Christchurch.

Ninety residents at the Iford Bridge home park, which is midway between Christchurch and Bournemouth, were led out of their homes at 3am after the water levels rose to 1.2 metres (4ft) and floodwater started seeping into the properties.

They were taken to a day centre in Boscombe, Bournemouth, and to the Iford Baptist church, which was later cut off by the rising waters.

A short time later, 15 residents from the Beaulieu Gardens home park in Christchurch were evacuated from their properties.

By 5.30am , the floodwater had reached the front gardens of some properties along Water Lane and Old Bridge Road in Christchurch and the council handed out dozens of sandbags.

Gill Hayes, who lives on Old Bridge Road, said the water was just two metres (7ft) from her front door. "I was meant to be going to my son's for Christmas but I can't get out of the house because the road is flooded," she said. "In any case I wouldn't want to leave my home in case the flooding gets worse."

Tony Allen, who lives on Water Lane, said: "The first thing we saw on Christmas morning was the fire brigade on a rubber boat coming up the lane. We have seen it flooded before but never this bad."

Staff and residents are rescued from the flooded Mercure hotel in Dorking. Photograph: Tony Kershaw/Rex

Most of the evacuees were collected by friends and family; those remaining were put in bed and breakfast accommodation.

Publicans, hoteliers and those looking forward to Christmas lunch out also failed to escape the misery and chaos caused by the stormy weather and flooding.

Twenty-seven guests and nine members of staff were evacuated from the four-star Burford Bridge hotel in Surrey after it was deluged by dirty, muddy water when the river Mole burst its banks. The huge surge of water began entering the hotel on Tuesday morning, forcing workers and patrons to seek refuge on the first floor.

Firefighters used boats to rescue the trapped staff and guests after the rapidly rising floodwaters submerged the hotel's ground floor, cellars and car park.

A spokesman said Christmas had been cancelled, adding that the hotel, which lies at the foot of Box Hill in the village of Mickleham, was closed until further notice.

The hotel's receptionist, Lesley Shorter, said she arrived at work early on Tuesday morning to find the car park underwater. "I parked just down the road and my manager came and got me and carried me into the hotel," she said. "The water was up to his wellie boots then and it just kept getting higher and higher."

Shorter said they contacted customers to tell them not to come for Christmas lunch. "One couple was coming from Leeds and it is just awful, but there was nothing we could do," she said.

One hundred people who had booked an £8.49 lunch at a pub in Tonbridge, Kent, were also phoned on Christmas Day to be told that the meal was off as the pub was waterlogged and without power.

Flooding around Tonbridge Castle in Kent. Photograph: Jason Reeve/Demotix/Corbis

James Harris, manager of the Humphrey Bean, said: "We've got 6ft of water in our basement and no electricity."

Staff at the pub rang those who had booked and told them to go to other Wetherspoon's pubs in Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

One customer used Facebook to express his disappointment, but thanked staff for their help. "Oh dear … no Christmas dinner today as we had booked into Wetherspoon's for Christmas dinner and they are flooded," wrote Clive Gray. "Big up to the staff there who have called us to explain … all we say to them is nobody's fault … have a great Christmas all."

Rising waters from the river Severn and surface water from the A40 just outside Gloucester forced the closure of the Toby Carvery pub at Over in Gloucestershire.

Floods also led the pub to shut its doors in 2007 and 2012.

"This time it has only affected the front section of the pub so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as before but it is just my bad luck," said Sarah Marshall, the pub's general manager. "It's the last thing we need right now."

, "We noticed the water coming in at about 11.20pm on Monday night and we've had the fire brigade out pumping the water out."

Gary Button, manager of the Old Mill hotel in Batheaston near Bath, told the BBC he had had to cancel more than 50 Christmas dinners after the river Avon flooded the property.

Thousands of people hoping to cook their own turkeys also fell victim to the power cuts caused by the foul weather.

UK Power Networks said it would pay for Christmas dinner in local pubs or restaurants for people whose supplies remained cut off, and appealed for owners in affected areas to come forward if they had any spare room. Southern Electric restored power to thousands of homes on Wednesday, but said about 19,500 customers would be without power overnight.

Jonny Swift, from Crawley in Sussex, told the BBC: "Power off since 2345 Monday night, been told by UK Power not to expect the power to be back on until Boxing Day at the earliest.

"Not a very Merry Christmas for the family this year but thanks to very kind friends we will have Christmas lunch tomorrow. The Christmas spirit alive and well in West Sussex."

John Townsend, who lives near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, said: "My village has been without power for 24 hours. There was going to be emergency generators but the cables to connect were stolen.

"So metal thieves have ruined our Christmas and it seems we won't have power until Boxing Day."