THIS April to June has been the wettest on record across England and Wales, the Environment Agency said today.

As the Midlands and northern England began the clean-up after being battered by the latest torrential downpours, the Agency said the past three months had been the wettest for the time of year across all regions in the two counties.

Last week was another extremely wet week, with 76mm of rain falling across the North West and more than 50mm of rainfall in the North East, South West and Wales.

This month is set to be one of the wettest Junes in records dating back more than a century to 1910. England and Wales have already received more than double the long-term average rainfall for the month.

Nearly half of the rivers the Environment Agency monitors are at exceptionally high levels, with all rivers higher than or at normal levels for the time of year.