Flooding 'worst in modern history'

The floods paralysing parts of Britain were described today as the worst to hit the country in modern history.

The unprecedented weather on Friday - the equivalent of a month's rain in an hour in some areas - left tens of thousands of homes without clean water or electricity.

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Thousands of people are still being evacuated as the water levels in rivers across the Midlands and the South continue to rise.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown surveyed the damage in Gloucestershire where the River Severn is perilously high, while concern was growing about the River Thames in Oxfordshire.

The Environment Agency (EA) said water levels would not peak for another 24 to 48 hours. At their height, some rivers will be more than 20ft higher than normal.

EA spokesman Anthony Perry said: "We have not seen flooding of this magnitude before. The benchmark was 1947 and this has already exceeded it."

Nine severe flood warnings remained in place as further rain added to the misery.

In Gloucestershire, 70,000 homes faced water shortages, while more than 40,000 families were without power.

In Oxfordshire and Berkshire, at least 700 homes were flooded, while parts of Herefordshire were also without power.

Tim Brain, chief constable of Gloucestershire Police, said emergency services face unprecedented challenges and warned that the situation could worsen.

He said the force's main priority was to keep power running at Walham sub-station, which powers half a million homes. A steel barrier and sandbags were used to stem the flow.

After his helicopter tour to survey the extensive damage, Mr Brown said the Government would set up a review into the flooding.

He said the Government would increase the amount of money spent on flood and coastal defences across the country from £600 to £800 million.

Beleaguered local authorities will receive extra funding to pay for emergency work to deal with the chaos.

During his tour, the Prime Minister was briefed by the emergency services' multi-agency team - Gold Command, made up of heads of police, fire, ambulance, local authorities and other groups co-ordinating the response to the floods.

Speaking at his first monthly briefing with the press, he said: "Like every advanced industrialised country, we are coming to terms with the issues surrounding climate change.

"We are going to have to look at drainage, surface water, as well as river water, and what we are going to be able to do in the future in relation to that.

"We will have to invest in coastal defences, flood defences and of course drainage in infrastructure in the years to come and that's why we are setting aside more resources to do so."

Describing the impact of Friday's weather, he said: "What we had was a month's rainfall in some places in an hour. It was something we have got to look at in the future."

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said nothing could have guarded against the amount of rainfall in recent days.

Mr Brown said he had full sympathy for those affected by the flooding, including those who have been evacuated from their homes or had operations cancelled.

His comments came as Housing Minister Yvette Cooper warned the floods should not be used as an excuse to "whip up hostility" to new housebuilding.

She said critics should not "play politics" with the floods to block urgently-needed new developments to provide affordable homes.

The Government's housing Green Paper is expected to warn it is "unrealistic" to prevent building on flood plains.

Today, police closed the A361 river bridge at Shipton-under-Wychwood after it was damaged by the rising level of the River Thames.

Bedfordshire Police closed five bridges over the River Ouse and set up a refuge centre at a school in the village of Turvey.

North of Gloucester, the Castlemead electricity sub-station, which supplies more than 48,000 homes, was switched off as 150 firefighters and RAF servicemen battled to pump water out.

Water company Severn Trent sent 250 mini-tankers filled with water to key areas across Gloucestershire as more than 70,000 homes were expected to be without drinking water for several days.

It handed out 150,000 litres of bottled water at Tesco at Quedgeley and Sainsbury's at Barnwood in Gloucester, as well as Tewkesbury Comprehensive School and Tewkesbury Borough Council offices.

Sutton and East Surrey Water warned 80,000 households and businesses within its Sutton supply area to boil tap water before drinking it after the firm discovered rain had leaked into a tank of water which went out to customers.

As the floods continued to cause havoc, West Mercia Constabulary said many flood victims who had been forced to abandon their cars in south Worcestershire faced further misery from opportunist thieves.

The cost of the summer floods could make 2007 one of the worst years for insurers.

A spokeswoman for the Association of British Insurers said: "With June and July combined, we could see losses in excess of £2 billion."

Severn Trent Water later confirmed "at least" 350,000 homes in Gloucestershire will be without water by this evening.

A spokeswoman said: "One of our water treatment centres failed yesterday and we have been trying to save it.

"Water will be cut off in at least 350,000 homes across the county by this afternoon."

It has also emerged the River Severn is expected to rise once again in the early hours of tomorrow, triggering yet more chaos.