Britain’s rain-battered areas are braced for more flooding misery and chaos, despite a drop in rainfall.EA warned risk of flooding areas.

The Environment Agency (EA) has warned of a continued risk of flooding across England as a week of torrential rainfall works its way through river systems.

A total of 156 flood warnings and 166 alerts remain in place, including two severe flood warnings – meaning a potential danger to life – for the River Elwy in the small city of St Asaph and the A55 to Rhuddlan in North Wales.

The EA has warned of a risk of flooding in Gloucester, Salisbury, Oxford, Sunbury, Abingdon and York, while mobile flood defences have been erected in Shrewsbury and Bewdley in Worcestershire.

It says areas around slow-responding rivers including the Thames, Trent and the Severn are at particular risk.

 

It also remains particularly concerned about the River Nene in Northamptonshire and Peterborough.

St Asaph is the latest to be devastated by the floods, after the River Elwy reached a record high of 14ft 3in (4.35m) and burst through flood defences – making it more than 3ft (1m) deeper than its previous record of 11ft 4in (3.47m) in November 2009.

Hundreds of people spent the night away from their homes and were waking up to another day of devastation.

Insurance assessor David Flatley told there had been “significant” damage caused by the flooding in st Asaph.

“It is not just clean water, it is from the river so there are contaminants – there’s mud and oil that has run off from the roads,” he said.

“People often don’t appreciate that things like their kitchens have got to be ripped out, the skirtings have got to be ripped out.

“So as well as the drying out process, which can takes four to six weeks, there is the ripping out before the reinstatement … in reality it may be more like four or five months before the majority of these people are back in their homes.”

Large swathes of the Riverside cricket ground next to the River Wear in Chester-le-Street, where England will play Australia next summer, are under water.

Thousands of motorists and train services are subject to hold-ups and reduced services in the West Country and the North East.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned after the body of an elderly woman was discovered inside a flooded home.

 

She was discovered at noon by officers conducting hour-to-house checks in the Tair Felin area.

North Wales Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and her death was being treated as unexplained.

Four people have died since the latest bout of wet weather struck.

Since last Wednesday, around 900 people in England and Wales have fled their water-logged homes after heavy rain left many properties uninhabitable and caused road and rail chaos.

Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to take a “tough approach” on negotiations with insurers over homes in danger of flooding.

Up to 200,000 high-risk properties could be priced out of affordable cover when a deal struck in 2000 between the then Labour government and insurers ends next summer.

On a visit to flood-ravaged homes in Buckfastleigh, Devon, Mr Cameron told residents the Government would do everything to “help them with the recovery”.

“We have to make sure their insurance pays out, make sure the Environment Agency puts in place good flood defences, make sure there are better warning schemes,” he said.

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