Boat users are being urged to avoid parts of the River Thames between Henley in Berkshire and Teddington in south-west London.

According to the Environment Agency, that section of the river is "running high with strong flows".

As a result, all boat users are being advised not to navigate this area as the "strong flows make it difficult and dangerous".

"People in hire boats arriving at a lock where these boards are displayed should stop immediately," the statement adds on the Environment Agency's website.

The RNLI's Teddington Lifeboat station adds the River Thames in the Kingston area is "currently running twice as fast as it was last Friday".

"It is extremely powerful," it adds in a tweet.

Image source, Jane Hucknall Swallow

Jane Hucknall Swallow's home in Nottingham quickly became flooded yesterday meaning her family has had to move to a local hotel.

"The river came up very quickly and we had to grab a few bits in a bag and somebody lent me some fisherman’s waders to get out of the house," she says.

Jane lives about 10m from the river and her house is on a raised bank, but that didn't stop the water from rising, she says.

"It’s a very traumatic experience and it happened very quickly so I would warn everybody else, take notice of flood warnings."

She has storage underneath her house and "dreads to think" what she'll find when she goes back to assess the damage.

"We had three to four feet of water in our front drive... there were garden ornaments floating away," she says, adding that they had no electricity and no access to toilets or showers.

"For a lot of people, it’s devastating. When you’ve worked so hard to get your house and garden so nice, to see it go in a matter of hours is really upsetting."

Katy Austin
Transport Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

More bad weather has meant more travel disruption, including on the trains.

There were real problems yesterday on routes connecting London with the west and south west of England and Wales, much of that due to flooding.

And today Great Western Railway is still particularly affected again with a lot of flooding causing issues.

Disruption elsewhere includes some rail services in Lincolnshire being disrupted and so it's not a great picture out there.

Dan Johnson
West of England correspondent

Rodney Mosley has lived in the village of Longford in Gloucestershire for 47 years. He says his home has lost power and has been flooded four times since he moved.

But, the 81-year-old has an impressive spirit as he paddles around and shows me the damage to his home - adding the tide peaked at 05:00 GMT this morning.

"Last time in 2007 we had to have the plaster off the walls and we lost everything," he tells me.

"You've just got to put up with it and look on the bright side of life. We're not the only ones.

"It's been like this since early yesterday morning."

The famous Pulteney Weir in Bath has disappeared completely underwater due to floods.

One shop owner on Pulteney Bridge told the BBC he has "never seen it so high".

For an idea of what the bridge and weir usually look like, have a look at the photo below taken in 2022.

Image source, Reuters

It's just gone 15:30 GMT, so let's bring you a reminder of where we are this afternoon:

• At the moment there are more than 250 flood warnings and 275 flood alerts in place across England
• A cold weather alert has been issued in England from 09:00 tomorrow until until 12:00 next Friday (12 January)
• The Met Office says the rain is going to ease up over the weekend - but the cold weather alert means there is a risk of ice and fog

• Rishi Sunak says people should be reassured by the response to flooding in badly hit areas - though the government's response has been criticised by opposition parties.
• The Environment Agency says over 1,000 homes in England have been flooded this week
• Train services across the country are disrupted - if you are travelling today, services affected by the weather are listed here, external

Stay with us and we'll keep you updated throughout the afternoon, including information for those affected and travel information.

A week of heavy rainfall and a powerful storm has lead to mass flooding in parts of England.

Watch the video above to see horses rescued by boat, and vehicles stranded in the flood water.

The weather will be fine and dry for many over the weekend in the wake of the flooding caused by Storm Henk, the Met Office has just said in a new statement.

It predicted temperatures will be lower than average for the time of year, and the freezing conditions mean that there is the risk of ice and fog.

Jason Kelly, a Met Office chief forecaster, said: “The transition to lower temperatures will be noticeable over the weekend. It will become rather cold next week with lower-than-average temperatures across much of the UK, accentuated by brisk easterly winds in the south."

He added: “A combination of overnight freezing temperatures, saturated ground and calm winds mean increasing risks of frost, fog and icy conditions.”

Image source, Neady Peady / BBC Weather Watchers

Farmers affected by the flooding want the government to invest more in river defences in rural areas to protect UK food production, as thousands of acres of crops and productive farmland are now sitting under floodwater.

The NFU says farmers who are expected to let fields of crops flood to protect towns should also be compensated.

A government spokesperson says £221m is being spent on maintaining flood defences in 2023/24.

The recent wet weather has caused further damage to farms that had already been hit by Storms Babet and Ciaran in the autumn.

Read more here.

BBC Environment correspondent Claire Marshall filmed this in the town of Bradford-on-Avon, where the town bridge, which is a major artery across the river Avon, has been closed because of flooding.

Many other bridges in the area are also shut because of the floodwaters, and some schools are closed after pupils and teachers were unable to get in. Emergency services are also reporting difficulties in attending incidents.

Locals in Bradford-on-Avon say it’s the worst flooding in more than a decade. Some shops and restaurants have been flooded and homeowners have been trying to pump the water out before it gets in.

Navtej Johal
Midlands correspondent

Image source, Navtej Johal/BBC

This is the scene from Farndon near Newark in Nottinghamshire, where several properties have flooded.

Married couple Dave Everington and Julia Bennet-Everington have lived here for more than 25 years and say it’s never been this bad.

The ground floor of their house was underwater by Thursday morning due to the nearby River Trent bursting its banks.

It’s currently under a foot of water and rising. They say it could be six months before they’re able to move back in, but are trying to remain positive.

“We’ll just have to grin and bear it,” said Dave.

It's worth noting that everyone I have spoken to here agrees that today's flooding is the worst they have ever seen.

Image source, Navtej Johal/BBC

Image source, Navtej Johal/BBC

Image source, Navtej Johal/BBC

Right now, the government says there are 260 flood warnings in place, and a further 279 flood alerts.

As we've been reporting throughout the day, flooding has been widespread across the UK due to heavy rainfall. Nottingham County Council, for example, declared a major incident on Thursday as rising waters of the River Trent flooded more than 100 properties.

According to the warnings produced by both the Met Office and Environment Agency, flood warnings are in place in the River Trent across 36 locations and the River Severn across more than 38 locations.

To check whether your area is impacted by the alerts and warnings, check the latest update on the government's dedicated website here, external.

Catherine Evans
BBC News, Wales

Image source, Ani-Caul / BBC Weather Watchers

There are two warnings for flooding in Wales today.

Undefended areas of the River Wye at Monmouth and the River Ritec at Tenby are at risk, says Natural Resources Wales.

There are also 8 flood alerts affecting the rivers Teifi, Severn, Dee, Lugg and Thaw.

Despite flooding in parts of England, including parts of Gloucestershire, emergency services in Wales reported no incidents of flooding overnight.

Image source, AndyG / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Logit09

Farmers will face a challenging year because of the flooding, a West Midlands farmer says,

Richard Bower farms near the River Penk in Staffordshire and over the last month the land has flooded as many times as he would expect it to in a year.

"We start planting next year's crops from September, and there's 20% of the farm we haven't managed to plant this autumn as it has been so wet."

Bower added that what they did manage to plant didn't look fantastic, either.

"Farmers needed a relatively dry January to help the land drain," he says, "but as it stands, it is not looking like a very good year".

Drone video from Thom Airs Media has captured the extent of flooding across Oxford this morning.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Thom wrote: "Spot Port Meadow in the distance - looks like Farmoor!"

Who doesn't love a lock-in?

It's been a challenging start to "dry January" for the villagers of Somersham in Suffolk - many of whom stayed in the pub after quiz night when their routes home were cut off by floods.

Emily Platt, 22, from Holbrook and about 20 others all stayed in the Duke of Marlborough near Ipswich.

Image source, Emily Platt

She told BBC Radio Suffolk's Wayne Bavin at Breakfast: "They announced it during the quiz that nearby roads were flooded.

"We were trying to get home and roads were completely impassable. We realised it was a lost cause so headed back to the pub.

"We are regulars at the pub and they are always so welcoming. We battened down the hatches and decided to stay for the night.

Image source, Emily Platt

"We must give a special shout out to April and the team at the Duke of Marlborough, and the residents of Sommersham who delivered airbeds and supplies.

"We did have a drink, to help us get to sleep for the night."

Unfortunately, Platt's team didn't place in the quiz, but a night-long lock-in a pub?

You win some, you lose some.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a cold weather alert for all of England, external and warned that temperatures are set to plummet in the coming days.

The Met Office has also warned drivers to be cautious of ice developing on roads, and said the chilly temperatures will be caused by high pressure building over the UK.

The UKHSA's alert says: "A brisk easterly wind developing across the south over the weekend will make it feel much colder, with the added wind chill.

"Temperatures are likely to be a few degrees below average, across much of the UK, especially overnight, with more widespread frosts than of late.

"Ice is likely to be an issue for many given the very wet ground in most areas. It is probable this cold spell may last well into the following week."

The warning comes into force at 09:00 on Saturday and expires at noon on 12 January.

Just five days into the month and some areas of England are already surpassing their monthly average rainfall.

Wattisham, a village near to Stowmarket in Suffolk, has already experienced 52mm of rainfall in January, exceeding its monthly average of 49mm in a matter of days.

Other areas aren't far behind. The village of Weybourne in Norfolk has received 49mm of rain this week, close to its monthly average of 53mm, and Wittering in Peterborough has seen 39mm of rain compared to its monthly average of 47mm.

Bedford has already seen 42mm of rainfall, with a monthly average of 52mm, and Lincolnshire's Holbeach has experienced 40mm compared to a monthly average of 51mm.

Lyneham in Wiltshire has also received plenty of rain in the last five days, clocking in at 51mm compared to a January average of 77mm.

An elderly woman and her four dogs have been rescued from high flood waters in Alney Island, an island on the River Severn in Gloucester.

Photographs show rescue workers carrying the dogs in their arms through the water, before loading them safely into a van.

On Thursday evening, Gloucester City Council advised residents of Alney Island to evacuate their homes and move to a nearby Leisure Centre as they warned flood waters were close to breaching defences.

Image source, Reuters

Rishi Sunak says people should be should be reassured by the response to flooding in badly hit areas.

The prime minister has been visiting the North West of England today and told reporters that he spoke to people affected by flooding in the East Midlands yesterday about "how devastating the impact of flooding is".

Sunak adds: "The Environment Agency have people on the ground everywhere, and absolutely recognise the urgency of what is happening and they are responding appropriately and with all due haste."

Earlier the prime minister was criticised by the Liberal Democrats, who said he should be "meeting people affected by this annual carnage, then he might do something about it".