Flood-hit west England residents evacuate homes

Storm Dennis hammered Britain on Sunday, bringing a month's worth of rain in just 48 hours to parts of South Wales, which bore the brunt of the country's second severe storm inside a week.

Rivers across the UK burst their banks and a number of severe flood warnings remained in place as authorities strove to get people to safety and to protect homes and businesses.

Footage showed severe flooding in the town of Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, with its streets submerged below the high water.

The Met Office, Britain's meteorological service, said the disruption was set to carry through into Monday.

'Red warning'

Major incidents have been declared in a number of areas in England and Wales as authorities mobilised resources to deal with the impact of the overflowing rivers that have cut off some communities.

Dennis has been so intense that England posted a record number of flood warnings and alerts and a rare “red warning" for extremely life-threatening flooding was announced for south Wales.

The Met Office only issues its highest red warning when it thinks the weather will be so dangerous there's a "risk to life" and people must take immediate action to protect themselves.

It was the first time a red warning has been sounded since December 2015.

The Met Office said the highest wind gust recorded was 91 mph (146 kph) at Aberdaron in North Wales on Saturday.

As the wet and windy weather started to clear across parts of the south and headed north and eastwards, the number of flood warnings across the UK declined but there were still around 360 of them in place Sunday, from the north of Scotland through to Cornwall in southwest England.

Flood warnings could remain in place for a while since much of Britain is still saturated from last week's Storm Ciara, which left eight people dead across Europe.