Defences at risk as more rain is forecast

Weather chaos: With a record number of flood warnings and more storms predicted, emergency services are at breaking point

Flood defences were yesterday said to be at "breaking point" as the head of the Environment Agency warned that further storms would lead to yet more flooding.

Flood defences were yesterday said to be at "breaking point" as the head of the Environment Agency warned that further storms would lead to yet more flooding.

With 43 severe flood warnings in place on 26 rivers, weather forecasters predicted yet more rain. At the same time the deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, said climate change would make floods a "regular feature".

Ed Gallagher, chief executive of the Environment Agency, underlined the seriousness of the situation yesterday when he warned that flood defences could give way if they continued to be battered.

"The Agency is very stretched at the moment. We have had people working 24 hours a day for many days now and they are starting to feel the strain," he said. "We are beginning to get concerned about our flood defences, as they have taken a real battering. If we have another week or two of heavy rain we would see more serious flooding."

An agency spokeswoman said there were few, if any, major rivers that were either not subject to a severe flood warning or had not been within the last 48 hours.

The worst hit areas remained Kent, Sussex, the North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands. Burton-on-Trent last night became the latest to be hit with police warning that hundreds of homes were at risk from the flooding.

"People who can self-evacuate should do so," a spokesman said. "People who cannot should listen to local radio stations for further advice."

In Yorkshire, a thin grey line of thousands of sandbags stood between the historic centre of York and a renewed deluge last night as emergency services in North Yorkshire predicted a desperate battle to keep the forces of nature at bay.

The River Ouse, whose progress through York in the last 10 days has turned the city into a reluctant Venice of the North, yesterday reversed a pattern of falling water levels with a swift return to the brim of the flood defences.

More than 1,000 emergency workers, including 400 police and 300 soldiers, were continuing to reinforce floodwalls.

The environment agency warned of a critical 12-hour period for the area as the towns of Barlby and Selby 11 miles downstream from York were issued with a severe flood warning as the Ouse threatened to breach defences completely overnight. Residents there - where many homes have been flooded - claimed they had been abandoned by the emergency services

By 6pm last night, the river, swollen by a further 24-hours of rainfall, was once more less than 20cm from sandbags piled on top of York's 5.45-metre flood walls as a final bulwark against the tide. Environment agency spokeswoman Jean Varley said: "The waters currently remain within the flood defences but we are looking at a 12-hour period where levels will remain very high indeed. Property flooded last week could well be flooded again and we must wait and see whether anywhere else is threatened."

Despite the imminent threat, most in York were last night still able to treat the emergency with good humour.

A notice on the door of the city's branch of WH Smiths saying that a visit by former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown to sign copies of his recently published diary was postponed due to flooding in the store, was greeted with wry amusement. One passer-by said: "At least that's one ordeal we've been spared."

The River Thames between Shepperton and Teddington was subject to a severe flood warning last night. A spokeswoman for Hampton Court Palace, the 16th century residence of King Henry VIII, said the River Thames was threatening to flood the building.

"The river is very high, the water level is up to the top of our barge walk near the south front of the palace," she said. "But our head gardener says that at this stage there would have to be significantly more rain for it to get near the palace building itself."

The agency also issued a severe flood warning in Surrey after the River Wey burst its banks, flooding more than 20 homes, and dozens of roads in Guildford were flooded after an overnight torrential downpour.

In Ponteland, where Northumbria Police has its headquarters, around 100 homes were reported flooded after the River Pont deluged the village centre. Fire crews were also out in Blyth, Morpeth and Rothbury dealing with water from overflowing rivers.

The floods have also prevented train companies from meeting their deadline for publishing new timetables based on post-Hatfield crash speed restrictions. The timetables had been promised by tomorrow by George Muir, director general of the Association of Train Operating Companies.

But last night he said the timetable for the timetables has been "blown off course by the flooding".