Two men found dead amid UK flooding

Two men have died as a result of the worst flooding in Britain for 60 years.

Two men have died as a result of the worst flooding in Britain for 60 years.

Gloucestershire Police were called to Tewkesbury Rugby Club at 7.50am after reports that two people pumping water from the premises could not be contacted. Police and the fire service entered the building and found two men who were declared dead at the scene.

The men were using a petrol-powered pump because they had no electricity and are thought to have been overcome by the fumes.

The deaths, which occurred in the last 24 hours, came after the body of a man in his 40s was pulled out of the River Great Ouse on Tuesday.

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There are growing fears about sanitation and health in flood-stricken areas of Britain where over 340,000 people are facing the prospect of no clean water at home for up to two weeks.

The Environment Agency (EA) said river levels in the affected areas were generally "steady and high" and would probably remain so until tomorrow at least.

People in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester are being forced to rely on bowsers and bottled water.

The crisis in supply was sparked by the flooding of Mythe water treatment works, near Tewkesbury, which normally provides 120 million litres of clean drinking water a day.

Emergency services started pumping water from the site on Tuesday, but engineers have yet to assess the scale of the damage. Severn Trent Water, which owns the works, said electricity had been restored to part of the plant but warned it would be several days before repairs could be carried out.

The company has set up 926 bowsers across the county which are refilled five times a day, while the Army is helping distribute four million litres of bottled water.

Floods have begun to subside in Oxford, where residents were evacuated from hundreds of homes yesterday. A fire brigade spokeswoman said the water level has been falling since yesterday evening. It is hoped this will mean that people in Oxford whose homes have not been hit by flooding will be safe.

Forecasters are predicting sunshine and showers across much of England and Wales today, with thunder possible in the North and West.

And the Met Office will hold a briefing at which scientists will try to explain why the UK has been experiencing such extraordinary weather.