BBC weather reporter Jon Hammond explains why Cumbria suffers such heavy floods.

"Unfortunately Cumbria is uniquely positioned because it's sticking out and exposed to south westerly winds. 

"The 90mph winds of Desmond have sucked up moist humid air from the sub-tropics and brought it up over the Irish sea and the first bit of land it hits is Cumbria. 

"That warm moist air is then pushed up, cools and then just drops as rain. 

"The people live in the valleys, 300mm of rain all congregates in the valleys and rushes down as a wave."

Tara Booth from the Cumbria Community Foundation is hoping to raise £1m to help families affected by the floods.

She said: "We're hoping to start giving out grants tomorrow - they'll be able to apply for up-top £500 initially for anything they might need.

"In 2009 we raised £3m - all of that money went back into the communities across Cumbria to help them rebuild their lives."

More than 80,000 has been raised so far.

Lancashire County Council is warning of a bridge closure after it was hit by a shipping container as a result of the flood water.

The government's emergency committee, Cobra, has been meeting to oversee the deployment of troops and other resources after . 

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said the level of rainfall had been "unprecedented"

She said the immediate priority was to nake sure all the resources were in place to protect people and their home with a range of organisations woking together.

"But of course, in due course we will be assessing our flood defences. Over the next six years we are investing £2.3bn in more flood defences to make sure people are protected."

The Environment Agency North West has tweeted this picture of flood gates at Garstang Basin.

A number of staff from the Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary have been unable to get home or make it into work because of Storm Desmond, the hospital trust has said.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust said the military and mountain rescue teams had helped transport staff to and from work when they weren't able to do so safely themselves.

They urged staff to let them know if they are able to work today.

They asked the public to make sure staff "are free to treat those most in need, such as those who have a serious illness or injury."

Steven Bell
BBC Cumbria reporter

Mayor of Keswick, Paul Titley, says 200 homes have been evacuated there.

He says: "We'd rather have a 1 in 100 year flood every 100 years, not every six - we were a bit surprised to get another one so soon.

"I think the [flood defences] did work, but they were completely overwhelmed by the amount of rainwater we had.

"The river was 5.4m above ground - in 2009 it was 4.6m."

Water is flowing quickly through Cockermouth with a significant risk people could be knocked over, external, Cumbria Police warn.

Insp Craig Lory, of Cumbria Police, said: "The advice is not to return to the flooded areas at this stage.

"For residents still in their houses, in flooded areas, you are asked to remain in your houses and not to venture into the floods.

"The rescue services are able to get to everyone if needs be. But if there is an emergency or a need to be evacuated can residents call the emergency services in the first instance, or draw attention to themselves from within their houses, by shouting from windows, only venturing into places that are clearly safe."

More than 70 homes have been flooeded and 50 homes have been evacuated in Northumberland, police say.

In Corbridge and Bellingham 73 homes have been flooded and 59 evacuated.

A rest centre is still in place at Priory School, Hexham, for affected people. Police are remaining in the area to support residents.

Rory Stewart is the Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border - and an environment minister with responsibility for floods policy.

He said new flood barriers had been in place, but the water had gone over the top of them.

He said: "This is a very extreme and unprecedented event. Early indications suggest we've passed the UK record on rainfall in Cumbria.

"And the number one objective at the moment is making sure that we can protect people's lives.

"We've got mountain rescue out, we've got fire and rescue out, the police are out, the army is now here at Carlisle. So there's a very, very serious response."

Some primary and seconday schools in Cumbria will be closed tomorrow because of flooding - see the full list here., external

Cumbria County Council has a page with advice for people affected by the flooding., external

You can find the latest forecasts on the BBC Weather page and the latest on the roads and rails on the BBC Travel page.

BBC Cumbria is running updates throughout the day - you can listen online.

Lancaster University has tweeted this message to students who may be affected by flooding in the Lancashire area.

BBC Travel

There are more than a dozen severe incidents on the BBC Cumbria travel website.

They include: A69 closed between the A689 junction in Brampton and Bridge End Roundabout in Hexham, because of flooding.

See all of the rail incidents in Cumbria on the BBC Travel website.

Roger and Julie Scoon have seen their home in Keswick flooded out for the second time since 2009. 

Mr Scoon said water reached up to 1m deep and was flowing out of the fireplace like a waterfall. 

Now they have returned to their home, which they are trying to sell, to assess the damage. 

Mr Scoon said: "We are trying to get the mud out and salvage anything we can.

"We had someone buying the house until yesterday, they haven't told us yet but I imagine they will pull out.

"All we can do now is get it back to something nice.

Electricity North West, external says its engineers and partner agencies are working to safeguard power supplies to 60,000 properties in Carlisle. Fire engines are currently pumping water from the major substation that serves the area and extra pumps and sandbags are on their way to the site after the river Eden burst its banks and floodwater threaten to breach defences.    

Here are photos from earlier - Carlisle Cricket Club almost submerged in water from the River Eden.

This fridge freezer has also washed up on the river banks of the River Eden.

Image source, bbc

Fiona Trott
BBC News

An appeal set up to help people devastated by the flooding in Cumbria has raised almost £77,000.

It has been set up by the Cumbria Community Foundation, external, which says it has committed £50,00 from its onw funds.

It says the money will be used to help people to clean up, emergeny repairs, clothing, food and drink and heating.

Lib Dem leader and the MP for South Lakeland Tim Farron is calling for government funding to help Cumbria deal with the aftermath of Storm Desmond.

He said: "It is heartbreaking to see the impact of flooding once more on local people. My thoughts are with all those whose homes and businesses have been flooded, and who have been forced to evacuate.

“There is now a major task ahead of us in terms of repairing the damage caused by these floods, and I am calling on the government to support us in this and make additional funds available."

Aerial footage filmed from the BBC helicopter shows the scale of the floods in Cumbria.