More rain due in floods chaos area
The emergency services are braced for more heavy rain after England's wettest day on record claimed the life of a "heroic" policeman and left thousands of others counting the cost of flooded homes and businesses.
The downpour over Cumbria was the highest level of rainfall measured in England since records began, forecasters said, with 314mm - more than one foot of rain - falling in 24 hours.
It brought chaos as floods swept away bridges, forced hundreds of people from their homes and closed roads.
With "heavy and persistent" rain expected to fall on already saturated ground during Saturday, rescue services in Cumbria were preparing to deal with the possibility of floodwater levels rising again.
The police officer who died would have celebrated his 45th birthday on Saturday. Pc Bill Barker was directing motorists away from Northside bridge in Workington, Cumbria, at 4.40am when it collapsed and he disappeared into the swollen waters of the River Derwent. His body was found on a beach in nearby Allonby.
The officer, from Egremont, served with Cumbria Police for 25 years and leaves a wife, Hazel, and four children.
She said: "How do you put into words how you feel about somebody you are so proud of? Bill was my best friend, my forever friend, and an amazing dad. Even when he was exhausted from work he would always take time out for the kids."
Cumbria Police chief constable Craig Mackey said: "Bill is a hero who died saving the lives of others and our thoughts are with his family at this devastating time." Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Pc Barker was "a very heroic, very brave man".
Flood levels were dropping by about two inches an hour as officers on foot patrol conducted searches through the night in Cockermouth - the town worst hit by the flooding - for any residents still trapped in their homes.
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said up to 50mm of rain could fall on high ground in Cumbria in the next 24 hours, bringing a risk of further flooding as water runs off the Fells into already swollen rivers.
