UK floods: Homes evacuated as swollen Thames keeps rising

Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey

Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to keep rising for the next 24 hours.

Residents in one Berkshire village say the scenes are from a "horror movie".


Fourteen severe flood warnings
 are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.
PM David Cameron, who is touring flood-hit south-west England, said it was not the time to change personnel amid criticism of the Environment Agency.
Chancellor George Osborne, meanwhile, said people understood "that the rain is not the fault of any one person".
Rescue operation
Homes, shops and businesses in the Berkshire village of Datchet are underwater and hundreds more along the lower River Thames, as far as Shepperton, are under threat, the Environment Agency says.
Several Thames gauges are showing their highest levels since being installed in the 1980s and 90s.

Fire crews, who have been rescuing people from their homes in Staines-upon-Thames, say they have never known waters so deep or a flood rescue operation on this scale.
On Monday night, Surrey Police said more than 150 people had been rescued from flooded homes in the previous 24 hours.

 

 A total of 10,000 sandbags were distributed in the village of Datchet, Berkshire

 

Stranded residents in Staines-upon-Thames are rescued by fire crews

 

Swans wander down a flooded street in Worcester

In Windsor, Councillor Colin Rayner pleaded for help from the police and Army.

"We've got 50 volunteers here, we've got the vulnerable people out of their homes, now we need to get everyone else out," he said
Nearby, in the Berkshire village of Colnbrook, resident Asif Khan said his whole street was under water, his house was flooded and his fridge "just went bang".

"It's something out of a horror movie," he said, adding that he was now about to try to evacuate with his two small children.
Hurst village resident Paul Palmer said sewers there were blocked and they have been unable to use the toilet since Friday.

"It's starting to back up into the toilet - it's like going back to the dark ages," he told the BBC.
Major incident

Thames Valley Police have declared a "major incident" in east Berkshire.

A major incident has also been declared in Surrey by the county's police force.

Howard Davidson, from the Environment Agency, said he expected conditions in the county to deteriorate as more rain fell over the coming days.
"We have issued flood warnings from Datchet down to Shepperton, and we urge people to take heed of the flood warnings. We are anticipating another three or four inches on the Thames over the next 24 hours."

The Environment Agency said it had never issued as many severe flood warnings and that many areas had seen more than double their average rainfall.
A two-hour meeting of the emergency Cobra committee has taken place.

The prime minister took part by phone from south-west England, where he will spend the night.
Speaking afterwards, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said sites likely to have problems in coming days were being identified and prioritised.
"Everything possible" was being done to protect homes and communities, and special attention was being paid to water and electrical plants, he added.

The control of sandbags and ordering of temporary flood defences would be centralised by government, he said, and "full military support" remained on standby across the south.
Railway lines have also been badly affected with passengers facing severe delays. The latest developments include: