Wrexham river deaths couple were earlier seen walking their dogs, police say

A man carries a a freind through floodwaters as the swell of the River Ouse flows through the city of York (Reuters)

A young couple found dead in an a swollen river in North Wales were earlier seen walking their dogs, police said today.

The bodies of Alicia Williams, 27, and David Platt, 25, were found in the swollen River Clywedog just outside Wrexham, near Felin Puleston, yesterday.

The body of Alicia Williams was spotted by a member of the public on a sandbank at around 5pm yesterday and David Platt was found at around midnight.

Police said today they had found no evidence that the pair died trying to rescue their dog.

The grim discovery came as flood warnings remained in place across Britain after the worst September storm for 30 years.

Heavy rain over the past three days has caused flooding throughout North Wales.

Downpours across the country have flooded hundreds of homes and swollen rivers causing chaos on road and rail networks and flooding hundreds of homes and businesses.

This morning 44 flood warnings remained in place, along with 64 less serious flood alerts. The majority of the warnings are are in place in Northern England.

Today thousands of people face further flooding misery despite the worst of the rain being over.

The Environment Agency said around 570 homes and businesses have been flooded across England and Wales since Sunday.

In the York and Selby areas soldiers were deployed overnight to assist with a sandbagging operation in the village of Cawood, while a fire crew from Lincolnshire was brought in with high-volume pumping equipment.

The peak flow of the River Ouse in York today was around 16ft higher than the summer average - the river has also recorded its highest ever level, and is thought likely to remain high for another 24 hours.

The Highways Agency said today that a small section of the A1 remained closed in the Catterick Area.

The Met Office said the storm was the result of the unusual position of the jet stream - a high-altitude band of wind which steers weather systems and caused heavy rain and floods in the summer when it shifted further south than normal.

Forecasters said the flood warnings remain in place because of the possibility that rainfall from recent days may be flowing through the river systems, but that the worst of the rain had passed.

Some areas of the UK have seen more than 4in (100mm) of rain in the past few days. Ravensworth in North Yorkshire has seen the heaviest rainfall, receiving 131mm (5.2in) since Sunday.

A number of other places have received more than 4in (100mm) and Rhyl, in North Wales, has had 3.8in (97.2mm) since Sunday, well above the average total for September in the area.

Despite the easing of the weather authorities are warning communities to remain alert to the possibility of flooding.