Humanitarian crisis: thousands without power, food and drinking water

Gordon Brown has announced a review into the devastating floods sweeping the country as a major humanitarian operation gets underway to provide food and clean drinking water to washed out communities.

 Warning as Thames rises 3ft in 12 hours and thousands of families are left without power; Britain's flood crisis deepened today as thousands of homeowners were issued with a new flood evacuation alert.

Fears were growing that rivers including the  River Thames and the  River Severn could burst their banks. The Thames in  Abingdon, Oxfordshire, rose three feet in less than 12 hours today and with parts of the town already badly hit after the   River Ock burst its banks, householders were fearing the worst.

The Environment Agency warned people had to be ready to leave their homes if heavy rain continued. It came as figures showed this month is set to be the wettest July on record. The Met Office said some areas have already had twice as much rain as the July average of 6.2cm and there is a good chance that the record of 14.51cm, recorded in July 1988, would be surpassed.

Water levels continue to rise to a 'critical level' with nine severe flood warnings in place across the country.  Met Office: UK: severe weather warnings

The focus of attention was  Gloucestershire and  Oxfordshire as the  River Severn and  River Thames saw their swollen banks put under considerable pressure.

The floodwater is not expected to peak until tomorrow night, sparking yet more misery for those cut off from clean water and power.

flood

The area suffered a further blow yesterday when 350,000 people were told there would be no tap water because a treatment plant at   Mythe near Tewkesbury has been contaminated.

Mr Brown said the review would focus on drainage and how the infrastructure could be protected against further flooding.

Beleaguered local authorities are also set to receive extra funding to pay for emergency work to deal with the flooding.

Mr Brown also announced that the Government would increase the amount of money spent on flood and coastal defences across the country.

The latest floods come as scientists prepare to confirm the link between the recent  Flash floods and  Climate change. The results of a major new study of climate change and its effects will be published in Wednesday's journal  Nature. Details of the study and its findings are under embargo until then.

This morning, thousands of families woke up without electricity after a flooded power station was switched off.

More than 48,000 homes across  Gloucestershire and parts of  Herefordshire were left without power after Castlemeads power station in Gloucester was shut down.

The Prime Minister today saw at first hand the devastation caused. Gordon Brown flew by helicopter over the stricken county of Gloucestershire where thousands of people have been left without clean water.

Fears that mains water supplies could be cut for up to three days in some areas sparked panic-buying of bottled water

Soldiers and firemen delivered food parcels and set up soup kitchens in towns cut off by some of the worst flooding in 50 years.