Floodwater began to recede in one of Britain's worst-hit areas today, leaving householders and emergency services with the prospect of a massive clean-up operation.
The water peaked below danger levels in some of the most badly affected areas, but thousands of homes still remain without power and water.
The Environment Agency (EA) warned that unsettled weather over the next few days could cause more problems. "We have not seen flood levels of this magnitude before," an Environment Agency spokesman said.
Forecasters predict more showers this week and heavy rain on Thursday.
Residents are rescued from floods in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
In Gloucestershire, the worst floods in modern history began to recede as tens of thousands of homes had their power switched back on.
With river levels "slowly" falling in the early hours, emergency services managed to restore electricity to more than 48,000 houses after Castlemeads sub-station was deluged by the River Severn.
Severn Trent Water warned that some 150,000 households could be without water for between seven and 14 days because of the flooding of its treatment plant.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn warned that the emergency was "far from over, and further flooding is very likely".
The government's emergency responses committee, Cobra, met last night after it emerged that the water levels of both the Thames and Severn had exceeded those of the floods in 1947.
Seven severe flood warnings and more than 30 other flood warnings remained in place as further rain in the stricken areas added to the risk.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Gloucestershire yesterday and promised more money to help with drainage and flood defences.
"What we saw here was a month's rainfall in some places in an hour, something that was quite unprecedented and put enormous pressure on water and the emergency services," he said.