Power supplies have been restored to more than 43,000 homes hit by flooding in central and western England.
Makeshift defences held back the floodwaters overnight and power is now reported to have been restored to many homes.
However, hundreds of thousands of homes in western England are still without running water.
350,000 people in Gloucestershire have been told they will be without a clean water supply for at least two weeks.
Emergency services have been working around the clock to rescue stranded residents.
Fears that a power station near Gloucester could be flooded eased last night as water levels peaked below the critical point.
Officials had been battling to keep power running at Walham Substation by erecting barriers and pumping the water out.
The worst affected areas are along the River Severn in Gloucestershire and the River Thames in the Oxford area.
Heatwave across southern Europe
Meanwhile, several countries are in the grip of a heatwave in southern Europe.
The extreme heat has harmed agriculture, and led to widespread fires and deaths; at least 15 people have died in Romania.
Two aircraft being used to tackle forest fires in Greece and Italy crashed leaving three crew members dead.
An estimated 1,500 scrub fires were burning in southern and central Italy yesterday.
