Analysis: tackling the floods

However, ministers have defended their response, saying nothing could have guarded against such intense rainfall over such a short period of time.

The scale is extraordinary - unprecedented even - the Environment Agency has said. Record levels of rainfall in May, June and July has pushed the system to its limit.

With an estimated £2bn of damage on the books, the Government is under pressure to show it takes the business of flood defence seriously.

And the Environment Agency said long-term civil engineering project - not a quick injection of cash - were needed.

Despite more money being spent - £200m has been pledged by the Government - the Environment Agency said that with flooding this severe, even their best defences could still be breached. Chief executive Baroness Young also admitted that some areas of the country were still left without adequate protection.

The response from the Government has been that the emergency response worked "pretty well". Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said measures like the Gold Command system meant the Goverment was ready to react in such situations.

The problem seems to be the Jet Stream, which normally brings unsettled weather to Iceland and Scandinavia. But this summer it sat itself hundreds of miles south, so Britain gets sustained rainfall, while southern Europe bakes in 40 degrees celsius heat.

Photo: sent in by Karen Smith, from Evesham.

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