Southern Britain Faces the Worst Floods in 60 Years

GLOUCESTER - Flood waters across huge swathes of England rose to hte highest levels in the last 60 years on Monday, submerging vast tracts of land and leaving thousands of people without running water or electricity.
British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told Parliament further flooding was very likely, as heavy rains continued and major rivers such as the Thames swelled.
The Environment Agency said Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), which assembles, maintains and decommissions nuclear warheads, had reported that their site at Burghfield (Berkshire) had experienced severe flooding.
'Several parts of the site, including a number of buildings and the site's sewage treatment works, have been affected,' the agency said. 'AWE staff have been sampling and analyzing the floodwater from the site. They have confirmed that there has been no escape of radioactive materials.'
Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the western county of Gloucestershire, badly hit by the flooding, and promised more money to help with drainage and flood defenses.
'What we saw here was a month's rainfall in some places in an hour, something that was quite unprecedented, and put enormous pressure on water and the emergency services,' he told reporters.
Benn said up to 10,000 homes had been or could be flooded and about 45,000 homes had lost power. (source REUTERS)

In some regions the situation seems really desperate and the British prime minister, Mr. Brown, are doing their best to handle the situation.
Europe has been affected by floods and excesive temperatures lately. In Romania in some regions the situation is much worse than the most pesimistic prognosis. In Vaslui for example draught has affected all the crops and immediate help form the central authorities in Bucharest is required. Temperatures have reached the highest values in the last 64 years. Yesterday for example in Bucharest was even hotter than in Athens where the temeperatures reached 36 degrees Celsius.