Floods to continue across Britain as more rain arrives

Following the unveiling of the £10m fund for flooded farmers and businesses, David Cameron urged insurers to process claims ASAP.

16:13 17 February 2014

Now, it has emerged the flooding is most likely to continue as Met Office has issued a yellow “be aware” warning for rain in south-west England. Also, there are currently sixteen severe flood warnings in place in southern England.

Following the unveiling of the £10m fund for flooded farmers and businesses, Prime Minister David Cameron is urging the insurance industry to help affected residents by processing flood claims as quick as possible.

He also urged the insurers to help in drying out homes. Since the start of December, there are more than 5,000 homes and businesses that were affected by floods.

Business secretary Vince Cable said: "It is vital that small businesses affected by the flooding get assistance as quickly as possible.

"We know the insurance companies are working to process claims as quickly as possible and we will inform local authorities of their allocations from the Business Support Scheme on Thursday to assist businesses with clean-up costs or help them to continue trading."

Business and enterprise minister Michael Fallon said: "The scheme we're announcing today is specifically designed to help the very smallest businesses - the local shops in the village, the local stores, the independents."