Despite stark warnings that last month was the wettest November in over 100 years, villages around Winchester are making few extra flood preparations.

The Environment Agency this week told central Hampshire villages to expect groundwater flooding, following the highest November rainfall in 108 years.

Almost 25cm - that's 10 inches - of rain fell on the Agency's monitoring station at Otterbourne, south of Winchester.

Rod Murchie, the Agency's water resources manager for Hampshire, said: "It is notoriously difficult to predict where and when flooding from groundwater will occur.

"We do know that in some areas the levels are now as high as they were two years ago, so everyone should be prepared to protect their homes and property."

But at prime flooding spots around Winchester, residents said they were confident that defences put in over the last two years would be adequate.

Two winters ago, Twyford became known as the "sandbag city" as residents went on a 24-hour floodwatch to try to protect their homes.

Road were closed to traffic and people were told not to flush toilets as overloaded culverts and rising groundwater created a lake at the village centre.

But Pat Pottinger, Twyford parish clerk, was confident that the repairs done after the flooding would be sufficient this year.

"Since then the county council came to do a very thorough job on repairing the culverts under the crossroads, so Twyford should be OK - at least we hope so," she said.

In hilly Owslebury, where roads were closed for months during floods, parish council vice chairman, Kieran Norris, said it was difficult to plan because water appeared so suddenly.

"There's some surface flooding which is visible to people at the moment. But two years ago when the flooding happened it just suddenly appeared one day-it came up out of the ground," he said.

He added that villagers had not raised flooding as a concern so far this year, and most were happy to put their faith in existing defences - although he had worries.

"There was remedial work in some areas and quite substantial roadworks. But I suspect that will only move the problem elsewhere. Water runs downhill, and any flood defence could be overwhelmed if it got too wet."

The Environment Agency also said water levels in Hursley, near Winchester, have risen an astonishing six metres in the last two weeks.

Parish clerk, John Brooks, said residents were simply watching and waiting. "I have circulated the Environment Agency warning but we haven't heard of any problems so far. Our informal way to keep an eye on it is to watch the gardens in South End Close and the Dolphin cellar-water will come there first because the village is on a slight slope."

In 2000 the cellar of The Dolphin pub in Hursley High Street was flooded and residents in South End Close had two feet of water sloshing through their living rooms.

Liz Hiscox, landlady at The Dolphin, said they had since moved their beer cellar and were not in so much danger.