Heavy rainfall over many parts of the UK in the last 36 hours has seen flooding reach record levels in many parts of the country.
Severe flooding in Cumbria in particular was driven by a combination of heavy rainfall, saturated ground and swollen rivers.
The British Environment Agency said its gauging station at Seawaite Farm recorded 314.4mm (12.3 inches) in 24 hours up to 00.45am, which is a record for England.
Meanwhile, the police officer who was swept away today when a bridge collapsed in Workington has been named by Cumbria Police as 45-year-old PC Bill Barker.
Mr Barker had been directing motorists away from Northside bridge in Workington, Cumbria, when he disappeared into the swollen waters of the River Derwent early today.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: 'Police Constable Bill Barker died trying to save the lives of others.
'He was a very heroic, very brave man who will be sorely missed by everybody who was close to him.'
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it was too early to say how much the floods would cost the industry.
The 2007 floods across large parts of Yorkshire, the Midlands and the West Country cost insurers just over £3bn, but they were on a much wider scale than the latest incident, which is mainly confined to Cumbria.
Around 200 people have been evacuated from their homes in Cockermouth, while flooding has also been reported in northwest Wales and in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.
Meanwhile, sightseers are blocking routes into flood-hit towns in a bid to get a glimpse of the devastation, police said today.
ACC Jerry Graham said the force was facing a 'major rescue operation right through the weekend'.
He said efforts could be hampered by a number of sightseers who had come into Cockermouth and Workington and were causing difficulties for the emergency services.
