UK floods: Severe weather expected in stricken areas
BBC., 11 February 2014 Last updated at 10:23 GMT
Aerial footage shows the extent of flooding along the Thames
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More wet weather is affecting flood-stricken parts of the UK, with severe flood warnings in place along the Thames and Somerset.
Fourteen severe flood warnings remain in place in Berkshire and Surrey, and two in Somerset.Prime Minister David Cameron said, on a visit to Devon, that the floods were a "huge challenge" and "we are in it for the long haul."
Meanwhile flooding is disrupting train services in parts of the country.
Earlier Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC the government had got a "grip" on the crisis and everything was being done to help those affected.
He said 1,600 troops were on standby across southern England, ready to move in when they are needed to help with tasks such as delivering sandbags.
Homes were flooded along the Thames in towns and villages including Chertsey, Wraysbury and Datchet and thousands more properties are still at risk. Some residents have chosen to stay in their homes.
More than 5,000 properties have been flooded in the last two months after the "most exceptional period of rainfall" to hit parts of England and Wales for nearly 250 years.
And more than 130 severe flood warnings - indicating a threat to life - have been issued since December.
Homes have been flooded next to the Thames in Shepperton, Surrey
A volunteer helps ferry residents of Purley on Thames, Berkshire
Residents wade through floodwater in the village of Wraysbury, in Berkshire
Water surrounds flooded propeties in the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels near Bridgwater
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Prime Minister David Cameron has continued his tour of South
West, visiting the Dawlish railway line, in Devon, on Tuesday morning.The Met Office has severe weather warnings in place for rain across parts of south Wales and south-west England, cautioning that "with ongoing flooding in some places, any further rain will only add to the problems".
BBC weather forecaster Laura Gilchrist said deep areas of low pressure on Wednesday could bring the strongest wind so far this winter with an amber warning - meaning "be prepared" and "possible gusts of 80mph or more in exposed areas" areas of the South West.
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She said people had been left like "sitting ducks waiting for it to happen".
Chief Supt Matt Twist, of Surrey Police, said a "major incident" had been declared with more than 150 people have been rescued from flooded homes in the last 24 hours and extra police had been drafted in.
On the trains, because of flooding near Maidenhead, trains are having to run at a reduced speed between London Paddington and Reading, with journey times extended by up to an hour.
Weather information
First Great Western is currently advising passengers not to travel.
Services are also suspended on South West Trains between
Staines and Windsor and Eton Riverside due to rising water levels, and
the main train line from London to Cornwall remains severed at Dawlish,
in Devon.Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who is a also MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, said the "issue at the moment is getting help to people".
"The government has got a grip on this. The emergency services are in the lead, " he said.
He added that the military had been called in and extra money given.
"Equipment has been brought in, in some cases from abroad, and more equipment is on the way.
"The assets that are needed from across the nation have been mobilised into the areas affected."
Asked about Environment Agency Chairman Lord Smith, who has faced criticism for not doing enough to help those affected, he said: "I don't want to spend the time now in the middle of this crisis recriminating and finger pointing."
Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman asks Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, if it is time to resign
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The Environment Agency board has also written a letter to its employees "fully supporting" Lord Smith and saying the criticism of it staff was "ill-informed and unfair".
Lord Smith told BBC Two's Newsnight "extreme natural forces" had been "having a go at us and we need to find the best possible ways of defending ourselves against them. We've all made mistakes, everyone has made mistakes."
He blamed Treasury spending rules which, he says, meant the agency was not allowed to spend any more money on dredging the flood-hit Somerset Levels.
The Treasury has declined to comment.
Experts predict as much more than an inch of rainwater could fall in Somerset, here is flooding in Burrowbridge.
