There are severe flood warnings in place in the village of Ironbridge and the town of Bewdley, with the Environment Agency saying there is a "danger to life" as temporary flood defences face being topped.

And flood-hit communities are calling for a "permanent solution" to increasingly frequent flooding amid heavy rain.

York has also been hit, with cars submerged up to their windscreens and several properties affected after the River Ouse overtopped its banks.

In Ironbridge, flooding has hit areas without permanent defences and around 60 properties have been evacuated - but some residents have decided to stay in their homes.

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'Tense' situation

The situation is "tense", according to Telford and Wrekin councillor Shaun Davies, who added: "Some properties have no protection from flood defences and are still underwater.

"And we have evacuated properties behind defences that could be breached while supporting those who have decided to stay put.

"We are doing all we can to support residents and are preparing for the worst but hoping for the best."

Read more: 'Danger to life' in Shropshire and Worcester

Mr Davies also said that the government announced in 2020 that flooding was a "once-in-a-century event".

"But it's just two years later and we need to be preparing for this kind of event as a normal event going forward," he said, before advocating for a permanent defence solution.

Flood warnings across England

Scores of flood warnings have been issued across England particularly along the River Ouse, River Severn, and River Trent.

Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson said while there will not be a "huge amount" of rain today, further rainfall in flood-affected areas could "cause recovery to slow down massively".

It comes after three storms battered the UK over the past week - as Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin left 1.4 million households without electricity, some for up to 72 hours, with around 12,000 still without power.

Storm Franklin's highest gust of 87mph was recorded at The Needles on the Isle of Wight on Sunday evening, followed by gusts of 79mph on a mountaintop in Wales early on Monday.

Storm Eunice brought winds of up to 122mph to the UK and Ireland.

The Met Office said in some regions as much as five to six inches of rain had fallen in a "short period of time".

Meanwhile, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said extreme weather, like these storms, could become a feature of the country's climate.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, he said "four people have tragically lost their lives in incidents related to storms".

Police have named Stephen Matthews, 68, a father of two from Aintree, as the passenger who died after debris struck the windscreen of a vehicle he was travelling in during high winds in Netherton, Merseyside, on Friday.