Residents have been warned to evacuate 500 homes in north Wales after a river burst through flood defences.
People living in the city of St Asaph, Denbighshire, were warned to leave when the river Elwy overcame defences.Some were staying with friends and family and a rest centre was opened by the county council at St Asaph leisure centre, where council staff and members of the British Red Cross looked after the evacuees.
A spokesman for Denbighshire county council said: "Concerns have been growing about the levels of the river Elwy at St Asaph. The river has now overtopped the flood defences in the north end of the city."
By 8am around 100 people, some elderly and some with pets, were at the centre though some refused to leave their homes, preferring to stay to try to save belongings.
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The first many of the residents knew of the problems was when police and council officials began knocking on doors in the early hours.
A spokesman for the Red Cross said it set the rest centre up at midnight.
One of the charity's 4x4s rescued a 92-year-old man trapped in his home.
Not far away at Capel Curig in Snowdonia 50mm of rain fell in 24 hours. For the first time in a week the Met Office has no severe weather warnings in place. The problem for the rest of the week is likely to come from large rivers as they fill from water draining off the hills. There are concerns that the river Severn and the Thames could begin to cause flooding.
Meanwhile, the government continued to have to defend cuts to flood defences and an apparent impasse with the insurance industry over flood cover.
The environment secretary, Owen Paterson, speaking on BBC Breakfast, said it was "very unfair" to criticise the government over its work on flood defences, given the "extraordinarily difficult" economic circumstances it had inherited. "There are always claims on the public purse," he said.
Labour has claimed that almost 300 flood defence schemes have been cut or deferred. Paterson said the government was spending £2.17bn over the spending round, a reduction of 6%. He said it was also setting up partnerships with local government to build more defences.
He said: "As we speak today, over 50,000 properties have been saved against the current weather which is absolutely exceptional. Over the period of this parliament, we will protect a further 145,000 properties.
"Given the current financial constraints we are under, that shows the real priority this government gives to flooding and flood protection."
Between last Wednesday and Monday night, more than 900 properties were flooded – over 500 of them in the south-west of England, more than 200 in the Midlands and around 100 in Wales.
The north of England and north Wales bore the brunt of the rain on Monday. Blencathra in Cumbria saw the highest rainfall – just under 60mm fell in 24 hours. Schools were shut, many roads blocked and trains delayed. All planned surgery was cancelled at the Friarage hospital in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, after a stream overflowed and threatened to flood the building.
However, the Environment Agency stressed that the flood risk across the country remained "high". It particularly drew attention to rivers such as the Thames that take time to fill and flood after heavy rain. "Large, slow-responding rivers will continue to rise over the next few days," said a spokesman.
By 9am on Tuesday, the Environment Agency had more than 200 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – in place and almost 300 flood alerts – flooding possible – were issued.
